MORGAN HILL (CBS SF) — A man was arrested Wednesday evening in connection with the kidnapping and assault of a handyman in unincorporated Santa Clara County from more than two weeks ago, a Santa Clara County sheriff’s sergeant said.

Richard Rodriguez Jr., 49, whose last known address was in Alameda, turned himself in to Alameda police around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Jose Cardoza said.

Alameda police will bring Rodriguez to the Santa Clara County sheriff’s office within the next week, Cardoza said.

Rodriguez had an outstanding warrant on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment for his suspected involvement in a Dec. 3 incident where a handyman was forced to do repair work to homes against his will, Cardoza said.

Cardoza said Rodriguez aided two Morgan Hill residents, Jason DeJesus, 36, and Chanelle Troedson, 33, in forcing the 50-year-old repair man to work on the Morgan Hill suspects’ home in the 200 block of Caldwell Way.

On Dec. 3, San Jose police received a report of a kidnapping and assault at about 7 p.m. from the victim, who had managed to escape his captors at a San Jose gas station.

Police handed the investigation over to the sheriff’s office since the kidnapping occurred outside police jurisdiction, Cardoza said.

The victim told deputies he had initially performed handyman services for a relative of one of the suspects about two months ago, but was not paid in full for his work, resulting in a dispute for services rendered, Cardoza said.

The victim said the suspects lured him to their residence to do repair work just before 11 a.m., the sergeant said.

Upon arrival at the residence, the victim was assaulted, held against his will and threatened with his life for several hours, Cardoza said.

The victim was still at the residence on Caldwell Way at 5:30 p.m. when the suspects forced the victim into a truck.

The victim was told he would be made to finish the repair work that he began two months ago at the suspect’s relative’s house in Santa Clara.

On the way to the home, the suspects stopped at the Chevron gas station at the intersection of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Cottle Road in San Jose to purchase gas.

When the suspects exited the vehicle to purchase gas and food, the victim escaped on foot, disregarding a warning by the suspects to stay put, Cardoza said.

The victim ran to a nearby residence to report the incident, he said.

San Jose police responded to the area, located the DeJesus and Troedson near the gas station and arrested them on suspicion of false imprisonment, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and conspiracy.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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San Francisco officials named Xavier Pittman as a suspect in connection with a Father’s Day shooting and burglary incident that injured six people, including a 10-year-old girl who was hit by a car near the busy Fisherman’s Wharf area.

Two people were hit by gunfire and three people were injured by glass shards, authorities said. Two girls, ages 10 and 16, were hit by a vehicle while walking their bicycles across the Embarcadero; the younger girl was injured in the events that were described as “total chaos” by witnesses.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has now charged Pittman in connection with burglaries that happened before the shooting incident.

Pittman, 25, has been involved in at least one shooting incident in San Francisco before. In 2021, he earned a rare apology from Police Chief Bill Scott after he was shot by an undercover cop who was moving in to arrest him in connection with a series of car burglaries.

The gun negligently went off, hitting Pittman in the wrist. After filing a lawsuit against the city, Pittman received a $195,000 settlement in June 2022 from the city Board of Supervisors. 

At a Thursday press conference at San Francisco police headquarters, police did not refer to the 2021 incident, focusing instead on the Father’s Day car-to-car shooting between an Infiniti and a Chevrolet at Fisherman’s Wharf.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott announces the arrests of suspects Thursday in a Father’s Day car-to-car shooting as San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins looks on. | Source: George Kelly/The Standard

“We have to hold them accountable. That is why we’re here today, because we have done a tremendous investigation to find those responsible for that horrific shooting that terrorized people across our city,” Scott said. “Mind you, two innocent little girls were caught up, one hit by a car.”

Deputy Police Chief Robert O’Sullivan said investigators learned suspects in the Infiniti were part of an auto burglary “bipping” crew that had committed several car-break-ins in the hour before the shooting. Officers later learned that Oakland police and firefighters found the Infiniti torched in Oakland. 

After identifying Pittman, 22-year-old Richard Tuiasosopo and a male juvenile as having been inside the Infiniti, officers worked to obtain search warrants before executing them Wednesday at six different addresses with help from multiple police department units, as well as the Richmond, Vallejo and South San Francisco police.

During the searches, officers found four assault-style rifles and 13 handguns.

Pittman and the juvenile were arrested Wednesday. Tuiasosopo was already in Alameda County Jail. 

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office had charged Pittman, who it believes to be a passenger in the Infiniti, with conspiracy and two counts of burglary. Pittman is scheduled for arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Friday at San Francisco Superior Court.

Jenkins added that she expects to charge Tuiasosopo as soon as he is released from Alameda County Jail, before adding that she could not answer questions about the minor.

“We asked for your trust at that time, given we were not able to file charges, that we would work with the San Francisco Police Department to make sure that we held those responsible for this accountable,” Jenkins said.

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SALEM — Murder suspect Dawn Coleman was shaking as Washington County Circuit Court Judge Larry Medlock set her bond at $5 million on Monday afternoon in Salem.

She is one of two women charged in the death of 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan, whose body was found in a suitcase the night before Easter in Washington County.

Judge Medlock said Coleman is now facing three charges in the child’s killing, including an aiding murder felony that was just added Monday, and decades behind bars with the Indiana Department of Correction.

At the hearing Coleman was visibly shaking and answering the judge’s questions affirmatively. She told him she didn’t have a home address currently because she is “homeless.”

The only time she spoke otherwise was when Judge Medlock was reading her charges, specifically after he named the Obstruction of Justice charge, a Level 6 felony.

“I don’t understand that,” she said. “Is that the new (charge?)”

The level six felony isn’t, but new court documents shed light on the aiding murder felony, which carries a 45- to 65-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.

According to the updated probable cause affidavit, filed by Indiana State Police Detective Matt Busick, Coleman said she was babysitting Jordan while his mother, Dejaune Anderson, was being held in Louisville Metro Corrections.

Anderson is facing a murder charge in the case, but is still on the run. Police said she was last seen in the Mount Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

The court documents said Coleman and Jordan picked Anderson up from the jail in Louisville and stayed at a family member’s home in Louisville.

Then, according to the documents, “A few days later, Coleman advised that she walked into the bedroom to find Anderson on top of (Jordan), with his face into the mattress. Coleman stated ‘it was already done,’ when she walked (in.)”

According to the documents, there were already trash bags inside the room at the time and Coleman said Anderson asked her to put Jordan in the suitcase. Coleman clarified that the suitcase he was put in was Coleman’s hard-sided suitcase that had “Las Vegas” written on the side.

Coleman said she zipped up the suitcase, then Anderson placed it in the trunk of the car they were traveling in.

Then, according to the court records, “Coleman advised that after they got in the car Anderson told Coleman she thought (Jordan) was something really bad, that he was a 100 year old soul, or some old soul that wasn’t supposed to be here.”

Coleman is due back in court on Dec. 15 at 9 a.m. for a pretrial conference. A trial date has been set for May 2, 2023.

It took police six months to identify and arrest Coleman, who was in San Francisco at the time. Charges in Jordan’s death were filed the day after what would have been his sixth birthday, on Oct. 25.

A few weeks later, the child’s family members traveled from Atlanta to Salem for a candlelight vigil in his army.

“We would like to thank you all for your generosity and many, many expressions of outpouring of love you have bestowed on behalf of our precious beloved Cairo,” family members wrote in a program that was handed out at the service. “Words alone cannot express how deeply grateful we are. We are all connected in the love of Christ.”

ISP is still working on the case and ISP Sgt. Carey Huls said more charges are possible in this case.

“It’s an open investigation and an active investigation, so anything is likely depending on what information investigators obtain,” Huls said.

Coleman was booked into the Washington County jail over the weekend.

“To see her here on Indiana soil, honestly brings a little bit of, not resolution, but somewhat of closure to that part of the case, at least,” Huls said. “That we have her back here in Indiana to answer charges.”

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JANIE HAR, Associated Press

3 hours ago

Nima Momeni, charged with murder in the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, enters the courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Paul Kuroda/ The Standard via AP, Pool)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Technology consultant Nima Momeni on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee on the streets of San Francisco.

San Francisco Superior Court Justice Victor Hwang ordered 38-year-old Momeni to remain in prison without bail because he posed a risk to public safety if released. Momeni, who appeared in an orange sweatshirt and trousers, said nothing and his attorney Paula Canny filed the plea on his behalf.

The case has garnered national attention, in part due to Lee’s status in the tech world. Lee was found shortly after 2:30 a.m. on April 4 with three stab wounds, including one to the heart, and was taken to a hospital, where he later died. He was found in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of downtown San Francisco, which has tech offices and condos but is quiet early in the morning.

Lee, 43, founded Cash App, a mobile payments service, and was chief product officer of cryptocurrency MobileCoin. He was mourned as a loving father of two who made friends everywhere.

Prosecutors have not revealed a motive but say Momeni stabbed Lee after an argument broke out over Momeni’s sister, who appeared in court with her mother on Thursday.

Deputy District Attorney Omid Talai on Thursday pleaded for Momeni to be held without bail, saying the defendant drove Lee to a remote location and used a knife that was part of a unique kitchen set owned by his sister. Police found a knife with a four-inch blade at the scene.

Talai said the analysis showed Momeni’s DNA on the knife’s handle and Lee’s DNA on the bloodied blade and no evidence that Lee touched the handle, contradicting Canny’s claim of self-defense for her client.

But Canny said that Momeni didn’t drive Lee to a secluded place to kill him. Instead, she said, Lee ordered him to stop after calling an Uber about the two getting into an argument. The last time Momeni saw Lee, Canny said, Lee stood up and walked away.

“People can argue without knowing that someone has been mortally wounded,” she said in court, later adding, “All of us, including my client, are heartbroken that Bob Lee has died.”

Canny said Momeni has close ties to the community and must stay and fight the charges or face deportation to Iran, which would separate him from the two people he loves most, his mother and sister. Momeni is not a US citizen.

Outside the courtroom, Canny described the encounter as “a mixture of self-defense and accident.” There was no premeditated advice.”

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dismissed the idea when speaking to reporters after the indictment. “We believe we have Mr. Lee’s killer, and that is Mr. Momeni,” she said.

Nima Momeni was 14 years old when his mother took the children to the United States. She fled Iran and had a husband who had been abusive and violent to the family for years, his mother wrote in a letter presented to the court in support of her son’s release in court.

She said her son was generous, kind, and contributed financially when she enrolled in college to train as a dental hygienist. He taught himself computer technology.

Momeni was arrested last month at his home in Emeryville, across the street from San Francisco.

An unnamed friend of Lee told homicide detectives they had been hanging out and drinking with Momeni’s sister the day before the stabbing, prosecutors said in a motion to hold Momeni without bail.

The friend said Momeni later asked Lee if his sister was using drugs or otherwise behaving inappropriately, and Lee said she wasn’t.

The girlfriend and Lee later parted ways, and surveillance video showed Lee entering the ritzy Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister Khazar lives with her husband, renowned San Francisco plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia. Video footage then showed Lee and Momeni exiting the building together just after 2 a.m. and driving away in Momeni’s car.

If convicted, Momeni faces 26 years in prison.

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A suspect was arrested Thursday in the killing of the Cash App founder in San Francisco Bob Lee, officials said. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott identified the suspect as Nima Momeni, 38, and said Momeni and Lee, 43, knew each other.

Momeni was charged with murder, Scott said during a news conference. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Momeni was charged with murder in Lee’s death, with an amendment alleging the murder was committed with a knife.

Momeni is expected to be charged on Friday. Prosecutors will ask a judge to hold him without bail. If convicted, Momeni faces up to 26 years in prison for life, prosecutors said.

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Momeni was taken into custody Thursday morning without incident in Emeryville, a San Francisco suburb, Scott said. Investigators issued search warrants in Emeryville and San Francisco, but Scott would not say if a gun was found.

Scott also declined to give details of how they connected the death to Momeni or how the men knew each other. The chief also gave no possible motive for the murder and said the investigation was ongoing.

CBS station KPIX-TV reporter Jocelyn Moran reported on CBS News that the suspect was and Lee recorded According to a source close to the investigation, they exited the Millennium Tower residential building together before the attack.

The arrest was first reported by the independent news website Mission Local.

On his LinkedIn profile, Momeni describes himself as an “IT consultant/entrepreneur” and the owner of a company called Expand IT. Business Records with State List Momeni as Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of Expand IT INC, described as an IT consulting firm. He signed the filing in August 2022.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Momeni has been “a dedicated technology partner since 2005” and founded Expand IT in 2010.

Criminal records show Momeni was charged with carrying a switchblade in 2011, a misdemeanor. The case was dismissed the following year after he lodged an appeal. It was not immediately clear if Momeni has a lawyer who can speak for him.

Police found Lee with stab wounds in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco around 2:35 a.m. on April 4. He died in a hospital.

“I hope today’s arrest can begin a process of healing and closure for all affected by this tragedy,” San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey tweeted.

Prominent tech leaders took to social media to mourn Lee’s death and blame San Francisco for what they call the city’s lax stance on crime. Scott and Jenkins took a stand against that narrative on Thursday.

“This has nothing to do with San Francisco, this has to do with human nature,” Scott said.

Jenkins specifically named tech billionaire Elon Musk, who wrote the day after Lee’s death, “Violent crimes in SF are appalling, and even when attackers are caught, they’re often released immediately.” Musk also asked, “Is the city taking stronger action to… Lock up repeat offenders,” and tagged Jenkins.

During Thursday’s press briefing, Jenkins said, “Inconsiderate and irresponsible statements, such as those contained in Mr. Musk’s tweet, which falsely assumed the circumstances surrounding Mr. Lee’s death, serve to mislead the world and its perception of San Francisco , and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice for victims of crime.”

Dying downtown San Francisco has yet to recover from the pandemic. The neighborhood where the stabbing took place is near the Embarcadero waterfront and is full of engineering offices, towering condos, and not much else until late at night.

Lee is known for creating the widely used mobile payment service Cash App while serving as the chief technology officer of payments company Square, now known as Block. At the time of his death, he was Chief Product Officer of cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin.

Lee was back in San Francisco for a visit after moving to Miami in October, his father Rick Lee said on social media. The two had lived in Mill Valley, a suburb of San Francisco.

“Bob would give you the shirt off his back,” wrote Rick Lee. “He would never look down on anyone and adhered to a strict, non-judgmental philosophy. Bobby worked harder than anyone and was the smartest person I’ve ever known.”

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A South San Francisco man was arrested Saturday night for stabbing a Pacific Gas and Electric worker who worked on the 900 block of Antoinette Lane in the neck for unknown reasons, police said.

At around 9:30 pm on June 11, Nicanor Cortez, 30, is accused of approaching two PG&E workers who were using spray paint to mark gas lines, saying “what’s up,” and then stabbing one in the neck. He then fled to a nearby apartment building. The worker was hit in the carotid artery, causing severe bleeding, and was taken to a trauma center where he is recovering from his injuries. According to police, Cortez was located and arrested for attempted manslaughter.

According to prosecutors, Cortez may have a mental illness and has spoken out about wanting to kill people. This is a second strike case. He was convicted of attempted arson in 2020. This does not appear to be an attack on utility workers. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 21.

Any witnesses to this attack are asked to contact CID Detective Perez at (650) 877-8900.

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HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A farm worker accused of killing seven people in consecutive shootings at two northern California mushroom farms was charged with seven murders and one attempted murder on Wednesday.

Chunli Zhao, 66, was due to appear in court for the first time on Wednesday, but it was delayed until February 16, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. His two attorneys did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Wagstaffe, speaking outside the courthouse, declined to give further details on a motive for the killing of Zhao’s current and former associates, saying he wanted to keep the details from the public to ensure a fair trial. Sheriff’s officials said it was workplace violence.

It was California’s third mass shooting in eight days and the largest in San Mateo County history, Wagstaffe said. It followed the killing of 11 people in the Los Angeles area during Saturday’s Lunar New Year celebrations.

Authorities believe Zhao acted alone Monday when he entered a mushroom farm where he worked in Half Moon Bay, shooting dead four people and seriously injuring a fifth. He then drove to a nearby farm where he previously worked and killed three other people, said Eamonn Allen, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Erlin Ortiz and her sister Miriam Ortiz gather mushrooms at the farm where Zhao is accused of killing four people.

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They were in their car after their shift when they saw Zhao, who was about 12 meters away, pull a gun from a backpack, yell something in Mandarin at a fellow Chinese farm worker, and then shoot the man, they told Bay Area News Group .

Zhao then shot a second worker and gunned down the first worker, who stood up and tried to run away, Erlin Ortiz said.

“He was super red and very angry,” she said of Zhao.

Shocked and horrified, Miriam Ortiz’s husband, who was behind the wheel, started the car and got ready to drive off.

Zhao turned to face them, then got on a forklift and drove to a camp on the farm where he and the sisters lived. It said his behavior had changed.

“He laughed, he smiled,” said Erlin Ortiz. “We saw him get on the forklift and when he turned to us he made fun of the situation.”

Erlin Ortiz said Zhao, who grew onions for himself and his wife in a small garden plot, waved and greeted them but always appeared serious.

The charges against Zhao include additional charges that could carry the death penalty or life in prison without parole, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moratorium on executions. These allegations include Zhao using a gun, causing serious bodily harm and killing several people.

The coroner’s office named six of the victims: Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Beach, California; Aixiang Zhang, 74, from San Francisco; Qizhong Cheng, 66, from Half Moon Bay; Jingzhi Lu, 64, from Half Moon Bay; and Yetao Bing, 43, whose hometown was unknown. The indictment documents identify Jose Romero Perez as the other person killed and Pedro Romero Perez as the eighth victim to survive the shooting.

Officials said some of the people killed were migrant workers. Some people were shot in trailers on the property, Wagstaffe said.

Servando Martinez Jimenez said his brother Marciano Martinez Jimenez, one of the victims, was a supplier and manager at one of the farms. He never mentioned Zhao or said anything about problems with other workers.

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“He was a good person. He was polite and friendly to everyone. He never had problems with anyone. I don’t understand why all this happened,” Martinez Jimenez said in Spanish.

Marciano Martinez Jimenez had lived in the United States for 28 years after arriving from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Servando Martinez Jimenez said he was working with the Mexican consulate to bring his brother’s body home.

It wouldn’t have been Zhao’s first tantrum at work, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. In 2013, Zhao was accused of threatening to split open a colleague’s head with a knife and separately attempting to suffocate the man with a pillow, the Chronicle reported based on court filings.

The two were roommates and worked at a restaurant, and the man identified as Jingjiu Wang filed a restraining order against Zhao, which was granted but is no longer in effect. Wang could not be reached immediately, the Chronicle reported.

Zhao is from China and has lived in the United States for at least a dozen years, Wagstaffe said. He had legal paperwork to live once in the country, and investigators were determining whether it was still valid, Wagstaffe said. They also investigated his previous contact with law enforcement.

The shootings erupted at California Terra Garden, formerly known as Mountain Mushroom Farm, and near Concord Farms.

The majority of farmworkers in the area are Latinos, but Mountain Mushroom Farm was one of the few to employ Asian workers, said Belinda Hernandez, executive director of ALAS, a farmworker advocacy group based in Half Moon Bay. She said mushroom farms offer the benefit of year-round work.

David Oates, a spokesman for California Terra Garden, said he didn’t know how long Zhao worked there and that he was one of 35 employees who stayed when ownership changed. He declined to comment further on Wednesday and said he would contact law enforcement. And Aaron Tung, co-owner of Concord Farms, did not respond to a request for additional comment on Wednesday.

Half Moon Bay is a small, laid-back coastal and farming town about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Its sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean make it a popular spot for hikers and tourists who flock here for surfing and an annual giant pumpkin festival.

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The New Year has brought six mass murders with 39 deaths in less than three weeks in the US. Three have stalked California since Jan. 16, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The database tracks every mass murder — defined as four dead, not including the perpetrator — in the United States since 2006.

The Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park shootings followed the January 16 killing of a teenage mother, her baby and four others at a home in California’s Central Valley. Officials discussing the investigation mentioned a possible gang connection to the killings. ___

This story has been corrected to say that on January 16, six people were killed in California’s Central Valley, not eight people.

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Police on Thursday arrested a suspect in connection with two armed bank robberies in South San Francisco in November and December.

Damion Stephen Shoemaker, 48, of San Francisco, was arrested Thursday in Daly City and sent to the San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of two counts of armed robbery, police said.

The robberies took place on November 28 and December 28 at a bank on the 100 block of McLellan Drive, according to police.

In both incidents, the robber displayed a semi-automatic pistol, later revealed to be a replica, and demanded money from the clerk before fleeing the bank on foot, police say. The incidents happened on November 28 and December 28, police said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the South San Francisco Police Department at (650) 877-8900 or email tips@ssf.net.

Retailers in Menlo Park face fines and possible revocation of alcohol licenses

Three retail salespeople in Menlo Park face fines after selling alcohol to minors during a bait drive in the city on Friday.

A Menlo Park police spokesman said Saturday that officers and agents from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control cited employees/operators for selling alcohol to minors.

The actions were a result of the small decoy operation in which minors, under the direct supervision of department agents, attempted to purchase alcohol from six retail licensees in Menlo Park.

Retail merchants who have sold to a minor face a minimum fine of $250 and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC will begin administrative proceedings against the alcohol license of the business where alcohol was sold to the minor. This may include a fine, suspension of license, or permanent license revocation.

ABC is conducting compliance reviews nationwide to reduce the availability of underage alcohol. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunk driving deaths than the general adult population.

Smaller decoy operations have been conducted by local law enforcement agencies statewide since the 1980s. When the program began, the injury rate at retail stores that sold to minors was 40 to 50 percent. However, when carried out routinely, the rate has dropped to as low as 10 percent or less in some cities.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A suspect who allegedly stole $3 million in a violent San Francisco home invasion robbery in March was captured in Taiwan and has been returned to the Bay Area to face charges.

San Francisco police said detectives had developed information that the suspect — 30-year-old Los Angeles resident Tianze Zhang — had fled to Taiwan shortly after the burglary.

An arrest warrant was issued and investigators immediately began working with the FBI and international law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend Zhang.

On Monday, after several weeks of following leads and communicating with multiple law enforcement agencies, Zhang was detained in Taiwan.

He was immediately brought back to the Bay Area where he was booked into jail for felony burglary, felony kidnapping for robbery and felony terrorist threats.

Zhang is accused of forcing his way into a home in Bernal Heights at 5:30 pm on March 16. When officers arrived on scene, an adult female victim told them she was home alone when an unknown male suspect entered her home and physically restrained her , causing injuries.

The suspected demanded money, brandished a weapon and threatened further harm if she did not cooperate. The victim complied with the suspect’s demands, which allowed him to transfer nearly $3 million out of her account. The suspect also stole the victim’s cellular phones before fleeing the home.

While an arrest has been made this remains an open and active investigation. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.

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A Colorado man suspected in the 1978 slaying of a 15-year-old girl visiting San Francisco will be arraigned on murder charges Thursday, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Wednesday.

Mark Stanley Personette, 76, was arrested in December in connection with the sexual assault and killing of 15-year-old Marissa Harvey.

Marissa had traveled from New York to San Francisco to visit her sister in 1978, and went to Golden Gate Park on March 27 with plans for renting a horse but didn’t return, police said.

She was reported missing and her body was found in nearby Sutro Heights Park the next day.

The case went cold for 43 years until last fall, when a DNA hit in a genealogy database linked DNA taken from the crime scene to Personette, authorities said.

Personette was arrested Dec. 16 in Colorado and extradited. He is set to be arranged at 9 am Thursday.

“We are proud of our team and our collaboration with SFPD to solve this crime,” Boudin said. “We will work to ensure that Mr. Personette is held accountable for the brutal and heinous acts that took Marissa’s life and to bring closure to her family, which has never stopped advocating for justice.”

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