San Francisco police released the name of the 39-year-old suspect arrested for a series of hit-and-run attacks that injured four male bicyclists Wednesday night.
Police Officer Samson Chan said this morning that David Mark Clark of Albany has been booked at the San Francisco County Jail on numerous felony charges – four counts each of attempted murder, aggravated assault and hit-and-run resulting in injury.
The motive was still not known, Chan said.
At a news conference at police headquarters Friday afternoon, Police Chief George Gascon said that there is ” significant evidence to believe that this individual’s the suspect.”
The four bicyclists were all struck within a six-minute period between 9:43 p.m. and 9:49 p.m. in the city’s Mission and Potrero Hill neighborhoods.
Three of the victims, men of ages ranging from the 20s to 40s, were hospitalized. One who had been listed in critical condition was upgraded today to serious, San Francisco General Hospital spokeswoman Rachael Kagan said Friday. The other two remain in serious and fair condition, she said.
The bicyclists were hit by a blue Nissan Rogue sport-utility vehicle in the 2700 block of Harrison Street, in the 2800 block of Harrison Street, at the intersection of 23rd and Pennsylvania streets and at 17th and Missouri streets, according to police.
After the last collision, the Rogue crashed into a parked car and hit a pole. The driver, described only as a white male, then got out and ran.
Police have said that based on accounts of the victims and of witnesses, it appeared the bicyclists were deliberately targeted.
According to some accounts, the suspect was seen driving on the wrong side of the road and the car’s engine was roaring as it came at the bicyclist, according to Sgt. Jon Kasper, an investigator in the case.
Gascon said the four bicyclists had been “basically mowed down.”
Investigators at the scene of the final attack found a wallet and keys belonging to the registered owner of the Nissan Rogue inside the car, as well as a cell phone, according to Kasper.
Police attempted to track the owner down, but found he had moved from the address listed for the vehicle and were unable to reach him by phone, Kasper said.
The case broke Friday when the man went to the Albany Police Department to report his vehicle had been stolen in a carjacking in San Francisco.
Police determined his account to be a lie and he was arrested at the police department at about 1 p.m., Kasper said.
Prosecutors will review the case for charging early next week, according to the district attorney’s office.
Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have condemned the attacks, noting ongoing efforts to make San Francisco one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country.
