Two Peninsula men are in custody today following a series of robberies in San Francisco late Monday in which two victims were wounded with a box cutter, police said.
Police said three people were robbed in a half-hour period beginning at 10:15 p.m. along the border of the Mission and Castro neighborhoods.
At 10:15 p.m., a man armed with a box cutter robbed a 43-year-old man of his cell phone, backpack and iPod at 15th and Dolores streets. The victim suffered a minor cut to his neck, police said.
At about 10:40 p.m., a 54-year-old man at 19th and Noe streets was grabbed from behind by the throat by a man also brandishing a box cutter, police said. He was cut on the ear, and his backpack and cash were stolen.
Minutes later, a 36-year-old woman was choked by the same suspect and robbed of her purse, according to police.
In each case, the suspect fled in a red Cadillac driven by a second man, police said.
Responding officers spotted the Cadillac and tried to stop it but the driver refused to yield, instead leading police on a high-speed chase through the southern part of the city in which he ran red lights and stop signs, police spokesman Sgt. Troy Dangerfield said.
The passenger exited the car and tried to flee but was taken into custody at a Chevron gas station at Sagamore Street and San Jose Avenue near Daly City, according to police.
The driver continued on but finally pulled over at Goethe Street and San Jose Avenue a few blocks away and was arrested, police said.
The driver, a 21-year-old South San Francisco man, was booked on charges of robbery, conspiracy and evading police, Dangerfield said.
The man suspected of committing the robberies, a 23-year-old Daly City resident, was booked for robbery and aggravated assault, Dangerfield said.
Police have not yet released the suspects’ names.
Ari Burack, Bay City News
