Previously: World Gym Patrons Nab Man Wanted In Mission Murder
A 32-year-old San Francisco man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a resident of a convalescent center in the Outer Mission this morning and committing two subsequent carjackings, a police spokesman said.
Patrons of a local gym helped San Francisco police detain Maximo Fajardo Jr. this morning after he crashed a stolen car and then tried to carjack another driver, police Officer Boaz Mariles said.
Fajardo was later booked into county jail on suspicion of murder, two counts of carjacking and felony hit-and-run, according to Mariles.
The homicide occurred at the Convalescent Center Mission Street at 5767 Mission St.
Center president Jeremy Grimes said the victim was a resident of the center, and the suspect is a former employee. He declined to discuss the case further.
Police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said it is not clear what time the murder happened, but that police were called to the center at 10:24 a.m. on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.
Fajardo allegedly carjacked a victim near the center and fled before police arrived.
Twelve minutes before police received the call, officers had been dispatched to a two-car crash and attempted carjacking in another part of the city, at 16th and De Haro streets in the Potrero Hill neighborhood.
In that crash, the driver of a Toyota Camry–who police later identified as Fajardo–crashed into a Nissan Pathfinder, knocking the Pathfinder onto its side, Esparza said.
Fajardo got out of the Camry and allegedly tried to carjack a silver sport-utility vehicle, reaching through a window and choking the driver.
Robin Talmadge, the owner of World Gym at the corner of 16th and De Haro streets, said some gym clients saw the crash and took off after the suspect.
“Two members of the gym actually tackled the guy, and they held him until police got there,” Talmadge said.
Others ran to help the woman who had been driving the Pathfinder, police said.
Police have not yet released a motive for the killing. The San Francisco medical examiner’s office said tonight the victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of family.
