A man who was fatally stabbed in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood early Thursday morning has been identified by the medical examiner’s office as 30-year-old Joseph Minozzi.
A man who was fatally stabbed in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood early Thursday morning has been identified by the medical examiner’s office as 30-year-old Joseph Minozzi.
Minozzi, a Hayward resident, was found stabbed near the intersection of Sixth and Stevenson streets at about 2:40 a.m. Thursday.
He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead less than 45 minutes later.
No arrests have been made in connection with the homicide, San Francisco’s first of 2012.
Police Chief Greg Suhr said Thursday that there were witnesses to the stabbing.
“We’re hopeful we’ll find out who’s responsible,” Suhr said.
The stabbing occurred near where a mobile police command van is regularly stationed on Sixth Street during the daylight hours.
Suhr said plans for a permanent police substation in the area were stalled because of the state’s decision last year to get rid of local redevelopment agencies.
The chief said though that Mayor Ed Lee “committed that we’re going to have that storefront, or what some have referred to as a substation … we’re figuring out how to pay for it.”
He said in the meantime, the mobile unit has helped to reduce crime along the Sixth Street corridor.
“Any time there’s a police presence, it’s a positive energy in the neighborhood that promotes public safety,” Suhr said.
“We’ll rededicate ourselves in the early morning hours, but we’ve been very fortunate in the hours when most people are around that crime … is down,” he said.
Anyone with information about Minozzi’s death is encouraged to call the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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