The man accused of flying to San Francisco to try to save humanity from AI by tossing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's house made a court appearance Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty.

20-year-old Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and attempted arson in connection with the April 10 incident in which he's accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail at the Russian Hill home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Prosecutors say that Moreno-Gama can be seen on surveillance video outside the home, and then a short while later also attempting some sort of break-in or vandalism at OpenAI's Mission Bay headquarters, where he was arrested holding a jug of kerosene.

Both Moreno-Gama's parents and his defense attorney say that he was suffering a mental health crisis at the time of the incidents.

As NBC Bay Area reports, Moreno-Gama did not speak at Tuesday's arraignment, and his attorney, public defender Diamond Ward, entered the not-guilty plea.

Ward tells the station that the case was over-charged, and that prosecutors are trying to "curry favor" with Altman by ignoring her client's mental-health challenges.

"Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity," Ward tells NBC Bay Area, adding that his actions stemmed from "a mental health crisis and not any desire to harm."

The judge in the case granted a request from Ward for a mental health evaluation on Tuesday, and a follow-up hearing has been scheduled to discuss the results of that evaluation.

The parents of Moreno-Gama issued a statement following the crime saying that their son had "never harmed anyone," and he had been recently suffering from a mental-health breakdown. "We’ve been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment,” the parents said, "and we are very concerned for his wellbeing."

Moreno-Gama lives in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, and he reportedly flew to San Francisco last month with a written manifesto or similar document on his person discussing the "impending extinction" of humanity at the hands of artificial intelligence. Prosecutors say the document included a credible threat against Altman, specifically, and contained language encouraging others to continue his "work" and pursue other named targets.

Altman wrote a blog post after the incident sharing a photo of his husband and young son, saying he was seeking to evoke empathy at a time when others might be fomenting violence against him. Altman also suggested that a negative profile of him that had been published earlier that week in The New Yorker also may have played a role in Moreno-Gama's actions.

Altman added that while "people will do incredible things" with AI, "It will not all go well. [And] The fear and anxiety about AI is justified."

Separate from this state trial, Moreno-Gama is also facing federal charges, which include attempted property damage, destruction with an explosive, and possession of an unregistered gun.

No one was injured in either of the April 10 incidents, and Moreno-Gama's Molotov cocktail only struck a security gate at Altman's property, briefly lighting it on fire before security personnel extinguished it.

Previously: Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Sam Altman's House, Suspect Arrested Outside OpenAI Headquarters

A 29-year-old towing company owner was sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a plan to set the trucks of four rival companies on fire, along with two years for submitting fraudulent car insurance claims, with state welfare fraud charges pending.

As Bay City News reports, Jose Vicente Badillo, 29, who's the owner of San Francisco-based companies Auto Towing and Specialty Towing, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on February 12 after pleading guilty to committing arson. As Mission Local reports, Badillo carried out a plan between April and October 2023 in which he conspired with others to set fire to six different tow trucks owned by four competitors in San Francisco and East Palo Alto, according to court documents.

Bay City News writes that Badillo’s plan was in retaliation to perceived wrongdoings by his rivals as well as an effort to drive more customers to his businesses. Additionally, Badillo was sentenced in a separate federal case on February 13 to 27 months in prison for conspiring to submit false auto insurance claims, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, between 2017 and 2021 approximately, which he’ll serve at the same time as the arson sentence, per Bay City News.

Mission Local reports that the two cases are part of a long roster of cases opened against Badillo in recent years. In 2023, the San Francisco district attorney charged Badillo on counts of welfare fraud, perjury, and grand theft for allegedly lying on his welfare application. Per Mission Local, while Badillo’s companies were generating $2 million per year in revenue, which went toward a $250,000 Lamborghini and several other large purchases, Badillo and his partner managed to receive full Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKS benefits.

Additionally, Mission Local reports that Badillo has been prohibited from working with the city of San Francisco since February 2024 after it was discovered that one of Badillo’s companies installed fake “no parking” signs in a bank parking lot in 2023 and illegally towed cars. As Mission Local reported last fall, Badillo was reportedly still working with the city under a different business name despite no longer having a permit.

Image: TrongNguyen/Getty Images

Residents said more than 100 people attended an illegal early morning sideshow in SF’s Outer Sunset Saturday. SFPD, which was flooded with reports of gunshots, fireworks, and a U-Haul full of furniture being set ablaze, reportedly took more than 20 minutes to respond.

As KRON4 reports, the incident occurred between 3:45 and 4:45 am Saturday near Kirkham and La Playa streets, as seen in the below footage captured by a resident.

A witness told KPIX someone reached into their waistband and began shooting a gun into the air. Spectators were also seen jumping on the windshield of a nearby work van.

The man who rented the U-Haul van told KPIX he was woken up by the sound of revving motors as participants raced their cars in circles and performed stunts. He then saw spectators begin vandalizing the U-Haul and opening the door. "They were actually setting off Roman candles inside the car," Brown said. The remains of the burnt U-Haul van can be seen in the below KPIX segments.

Once the U-Haul was set ablaze, residents began calling the San Francisco Police Department, which reportedly took 20–25 minutes to respond. The Chronicle reports that SFPD began receiving calls around 4:24 am. A resident said SFPD told him they only had two squad cars available and had to wait for back-up, as reported by KPIX.

The resident who captured video footage said he couldn’t get through to a 911 operator.

“During this time, there were no police officers present,” the man said, per KRON4. “I attempted to call 911, but was unable to get through for several minutes. The lack of emergency response was alarming given the size and intensity of the crowd.”

The San Francisco Fire Department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. Arson is suspected, according to SFFD Lieutenant Mariano Elias, per KRON4.

Per KPIX, District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong met with residents Saturday afternoon where they discussed environmental strategies to prevent sideshow activity such as roundabouts or speed bumps, as well as increased staffing at the district’s police department.

Police arrested a suspect and impounded his car, and they’re in the process of tracking down other participants’ cars, per KPIX. SFPD’s Stunt Driving Response Unit is investigating the incident, per the Chronicle.

As the Chronicle reports, new legislation was recently introduced by Supervisor Danny Sauter and co-sponsored by Wong proposing that the maximum penalty be raised from $500 to $1,000 for misdemeanor sideshow offenses.

“These incidents are extremely dangerous and have no place in our neighborhoods,” Wong said, per the Chronicle. “When a vehicle is set on fire in the middle of a community, it puts nearby residents, passing drivers, and our first responders at serious risk.”

As SFist reported previously, sideshows made their debut in the Sunset back in May.

Image: screenshot from video

Details have been added to the post as reports come in.

Previously: Sideshows Have Made It All the Way Out to the Sunset, and Residents Are Pissed

The man arrested for torching two Teslas within a block of each other in SoMa on the same night in early 2024 was indeed a serial carsonist, as he was just found guilty at trial of also having torched five other cars the week before.

It sure seemed like the work of the same arsonist when two Tesla Model Y cars were set ablaze on the same night the evening of February 24, 2024, both within about a block of each other in SoMa. One of the fires was at Shipley and Fourth streets, the other at Mabini and Bonifacio streets, and the suspect was captured on video in the KPIX report below. This was just two weeks after the infamous burning of a Waymo at the Chinatown Lunar New Year celebrations, so it was fair to wonder if all of this was the work of the same serial carsonist.

It was not the same carsonist, but a different serial carsonist who burned the two Waymos. DA Brooke Jenkins’s office announced Friday afternoon that 63-year-old Armando Salvador was found guilty of torching the two Teslas. But he was not just a Tesla torcher, because as prosecutors proved at trial, he also set fire to six other non-Tesla cars in a single night just one week before.

“According to the testimony and evidence presented at trial, on the evening of February 18, 2024, at approximately six am, Mr. Salvador, beginning at Campton Place, lit a Cadillac Escalade on fire then set fire to five additional vehicles located on Geary Street and O’Farrell Street,” Jenkins’s office said in their Friday press release.

Salvador was found guilty of eight counts of arson of another person's property, and two counts of unlawfully causing a fire.

The Chronicle’s March report on Salvador’s arrest noted that “during the arrest, officers also seized suspected methamphetamine from Salvador.” But there are no  drug charges listed in Jenkins’s press release. So maybe he beat the rap on that one, maybe it wasn't actually meth, or maybe his attorney or public defender was just able to plead that charge out.

Salvador’s sentencing is currently scheduled for October 27, 2025.

Related: SFPD Suspects An Arsonist Is Targeting Teslas After Two Catch on Fire in SoMa [SFist]

Image via Citizen App

The home of Diane Goodstein, a South Carolina judge who’s been receiving death threats after facing off with Trump in September, burned to the ground in a suspected explosion Saturday. Her husband, former State Representaive and Senator Arnold Goodstein, reportedly leapt from the building to escape.

As South Carolina’s FITSNews reports, the beachfront home of South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein went up in flames Saturday around 11:30 am, burning to the ground and sending three of her family members to the hospital. Per FITSNews, Goodstein was walking on the beach at the time of the incident.

Goodstein’s husband, Arnold Goodstein, who previously served as both a Democratic South Carolina State Representative and State Senator per Wikipedia, escaped the fire by jumping from a window or balcony of the residence after helping other family members evacuate. As South Carolina’s WS10 reports, the family was rescued via kayak, according to St. Paul’s Fire District.

Arnold Goodstein reportedly broke several bones in his hips, legs, and feet and had to be airlifted to the hospital, per FITSNews. The couple’s son, Arnold Goodstein II, and another family member were also reportedly hospitalized, as the Daily Mail reports.

South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge told FITSNews the fire was from an explosion, but law enforcement has not yet said whether arson is suspected.

“Chief Keel said he will stay in touch and let us know if there is any evidence of arson,” Kittredge told FITSNews. “At this time, we do not know whether the fire was accidental or arson. Until that determination is made, Chief Keel has alerted local law enforcement to provide extra patrols and security.”

Per South Carolina’s Gazette, Goodstein temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from accessing the voter data of South Carolina residents in September, which was later reversed by the Supreme Court, per FITSNews. A colleague told FITSNews that Goodstein had been receiving death threats in the weeks prior to the fire.

As Newsweek reports, Representative Daniel Goldman of New York wrote on X that Republicans have been “doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein.”

Image: St. Paul’s Fire District/Facebook

Related: Suspect Arrested Following Manhunt In Minnesota, Lawmakers Shot

What appears to be an illegal fireworks stunt gone wrong destroyed the football field at Mount Diablo High, just days before the team was slated to play its first home game of the season.

There is a cruel irony that the Mount Diablo High School football team is called the Red Devils. A cruel irony because their home football field on the school’s Red Devil Stadium was destroyed by a fire this past weekend, a the Bay Area News Group reports. The center of the field is now a massive burn scar where the artificial turf used to be, and that surface is likely unplayable for the remainder of the season. The team is currently scheduled to play their first home game against San Rafael’s Terra Linda High School on Friday, and is scrambling to make alternate accommodations.

Bay Area News Group’s article above has plenty of pictures of the massively burned and melted field. The fire reportedly started around 10:30 pm Saturday night, and was not fully extinguished until well into Sunday morning.

Update: The Concord Police Department has obtained security video showing that someone was lighting fireworks from the field just before the blaze. "A review of surveillance footage shows what appears to be several persons, possibly juveniles, setting off fireworks on the field the night before, which may or may not have led to the fire," the department said in a Tuesday Facebook update. "Both CFD investigators and CPD detectives are continuing to investigate to identify the persons responsible."

“When I got here, the whole fire department was here, whole police department was here,” the school’s Principal Dr. Markell McCain told KTVU. “They had put the fire for the most part pretty much out, they were still wetting it from hot spots, but it was already damage done.”

According to KRON4, the school’s overall football field and surrounding track complex cost $3 million, and it had just been completed in March of this year. The turf was supposedly flame-retardant.

With the field now unavailable, the Bay Area News Group speculates the team could play their season on the Diablo Valley College football field, which is less than three miles away from Mount Diablo High. The Diablo Valley College field has previously hosted numerous high school football games.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Concord Police Department Detective Lee Lawrence at (925) 671-3234, or the department's anonymous tip line at (925) 603-5836.

Note: This post has been updated with a statement from the Concord Police Department.

Related: SFPD Arrests Alleged Arsonist Who May Be Linked to Playground Arson Cases [SFist]

Image: Nolan Mendoza via Facebook

A strange story out of Petaluma, where a former police officer suspected of arson had his home searched in an investigation, and sheriff’s deputies found bombs, meth, and drug paraphernalia.

There was a large brush fire on federal land in Sonoma County this week, on Pine Flat Road not far from Geyserville. Cal Fire investigators quickly suspected the fire was caused by arson, and detained 43-year-old Gregory Klemme on the scene, having found evidence of homemade explosives in his vehicle.

On Thursday, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched Klemme’s home on the 1200 block of Kresky Way in Petaluma. And KRON4 reports those deputies found multiple bombs and alleged meth in Klemme’s house.

"Inside the house, several pounds of explosive precursor materials were found,” the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a Thursday night Facebook post. “Bomb technicians also found three more completed explosive devices. In addition, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia were also found in Klemme's bedroom."

Considering that same post says Klemme was charged with “possession of methamphetamine,” we can say with confidence that the controlled substance they found was meth.

The Chronicle has the wild detail that Klemme was once a Stockton police officer. In an even stranger coincidence, Klemme had previously been a Brinks truck driver, and was once robbed of $100,000 in cash he was delivering to a bank in Sebastopol. And per the Chronicle, that armed robber was “a former Santa Rosa officer” who was “convicted of multiple bank robberies across the North Bay."

Regardless, Klemme was arrested again and booked on charges of possession of destructive devices, possession of materials for making destructive devices, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s being held in Sonoma County Jail on $1 million bail.

Related: Brother of the Late NFL Star Pat Tillman Reportedly Arrested In San Jose After Fiery Post Office Car Crash [SFist]

Image: Sonoma Sheriff via Facebook

• Richard Tillman, the brother of the late Pat Tillman who is accused of driving his car into a San Jose post office last weekend and purposely starting a fire there, appeared in court for an arraignment on Wednesday. Tillman's case has been paused in order to determine his mental competency, but we learned that two hours prior to the incident, he allegedly purchased "Insta-logs" and lighter fluid at a nearby grocery store. [KRON4]
• An Oakland man has been arrested in connection with a smash-and-grab robbery at a Sacramento jewelry store that happened on July 6, in which multiple suspects pepper-sprayed a guard and stole $1 million in jewels. [KTVU]
• The Chronicle has crunched some data from citywide 311 complaints, and unshockingly, the Tenderloin is the neighborhood where the most noise complaints occur. [Chronicle]

National:

• Today in Epstein Files news, we learn that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Trump that his name appeared in the files during a routine briefing at the White House. In a statement from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they said, "Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution." [New York Times]
• Columbia University has agreed to a fine of $200 million to settle the Trump Administration's beef over pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli protests last year, in which the administration says the school failed to protect to Jewish students from harassment. [New York Times]
• Bryan Kohberger, the man who has admitted to fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022, was sentenced to four life terms today after an emotional sentencing hearing. [CNN]

Video:

• Below, you can see the tribute that Lady Gaga made to the late Ozzy Osbourne during the curtain call for her Chase Center show on Tuesday night, with Gaga wearing an Ozzy t-shirt and her dancers all head-banging to "Crazy Train."

Photo of Richard Tillman via Facebook

The brother of celebrated NFL player and Afghanistan war veteran Pat Tillman was arrested on suspicion of arson in San Jose, in a bizarre car crash into a post office that authorities suspect was intentional, and apparently was livestreamed.

A very strange incident happened in the wee hours of Sunday morning in San Jose, as NBC Bay Area reports that a car crashed into a San Jose post office, and the whole building went up in flames. The crash occurred just before 3 am Sunday at the post office on Crown Boulevard near the Almaden Expressway, and it took some 50 firefighters about 90 minutes to put out the blaze. Quite oddly, someone also graffitied the words “Viva La Me” onto the post office building before the fire, and authorities believe the driver of the car rammed into the post office intentionally.

It gets stranger. A follow-up report from NBC Bay Area reveals that the driver was taken into custody, and the report identifies the driver as 44-year-old Richard Tillman of San Jose. According to NBC Bay Area, that man “told officers on the scene he is Pat Tillman’s brother, and that he live-streamed the event on a social media platform."

KTVU spoke with US Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet, whose agency has taken over the investigation. "We’re definitely investigating it as possibly an intentional act, so driving the vehicle into the building and then starting the fire can’t be ruled out as having been done on purpose," he told that station. As far as whether the suspect really is the brother of former NFL player Pat Tillman, Norfleet said, "We’re hearing the same report you have, but we have not confirmed that through our investigation."

Update: The Chronicle is now reporting that Richard Tillman's Youtube channel has been taken down, and that his family details a recent "unraveling" and descent into mental illness. Tillman had reportedly posted an 11-minute YouTube video just days ago vowing to “take down the system,” in which he referred to himself as "Yeshua" (the Hebrew word for Jesus), and said “As far as the next phase of the game, I know what needs to be done.” The Chron also details a number of Richard Tillman's misdemeanor arrests, and his "legal trouble, mental health issues and isolation from friends and family in recent years." That paper adds that a family member urged him to get psychiatric help, and he wrote back to that person “I’m here to end you…And all your worthless friends.”

NBC Bay Area also has the Monday afternoon news that Tillman's family has released a statement. ""Our family is aware that my brother Richard has been arrested. First and foremost, we are relieved that no one was physically harmed," the statement says. "To be clear, it’s no secret that Richard has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness. Unfortunately, securing the proper care and support for him has proven incredibly difficult - or rather, impossible. As a result, none of this is as shocking as it should be."

The older brother Pat Tillman, of course, was the star Arizona Cardinals defensive back who famously quit football and enlisted in the US Army not long after the September 11 attacks of 2001. Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in 2004, and the Department of Defense was accused of hiding the fact that Tillman was killed by friendly fire until long after his memorial services were over, allegedly hoping to avoid bad publicity.

Authorities say that a box of the younger Richard Tillman’s belongings was found at the scene, and contained a black and white photo of Pat Tillman in a football uniform.

There were no injuries in the incident, but Richard Tillman was booked on arson charges and is being held on $60,000 bail at Santa Clara County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

And again, authorities are saying Tillman may have livestreamed the event. "It’s been reported to us that this person has been broadcasting on a video channel, so there may be video broadcasts related to this event," Norfleet told KTVU.

So that’s unusual, as is the fact that someone oddly spray-painted the words “Vive La Me” on the post office sometime before this fiery crash. "Those markings were not on the building yesterday,” Norfleet also pointed out to KTVU. “What their connection is to the fire and crash is so far unexplained. I cannot think of a reason why that would make sense, but that’s one of the things we’re looking into.”

Though for San Jose residents, the more urgent matter is what to do if you had mail or a post office box at that particular post office. Unsurprisingly, that Alamaden/Crown Boulevard post office that burned will be temporarily closed for the foreseeable future. Its mail operations will be moved to the Willow Glen Post Office at 1750 Meridian Avenue, and those with Almaden PO boxes will be able to retrieve their mail at the Willow Glen location starting Tuesday, and will need to provide photo ID.

Note: This post has been updated with additional reporting of Richard Tillman.

Related: San Jose Shop Owner Killed in Fire, Officials Say It Was Arson By Unhoused Woman With Prior Arson Charges [SFist]

Image: @SJFD via Twitter

The 51-year-old founder of a San Jose custom t-shirt and print business is dead after a Sunday morning fire ripped through his business’ building, and the arson suspect in custody is an unhoused woman with a previous arson conviction.

The Bay Area News Group has the news of a Sunday morning fire in San Jose’s Roosevelt Park neighborhood that firefighters responded to at about 3:55 am. The fire completely consumed a two-story building on North 27th Street near East Saint James Street, and officials were quick to conclude the cause was arson. But more urgently, they were informed that the founder of the business that was housed in that building was trapped inside during the fire.

That unfortunately turned out to be true, as now KTVU reports that the founder of the t-shirt and custom printing company Branding Out, 51-year-old founder Chris Tran, was killed in the blaze. Tributes to Tran on social media say "we are incredibly lucky to have made soooo many memories with him, but I’m beyond heartbroken we won’t be making new ones. He was everyone’s best friend.”

But KTVU also reports that an unhoused woman has been arrested for arson in this incident. 35-year-old Yessenia Estrada was apparently known as something of a repeat troublemaker in the neighborhood, and she’s been charged with involuntary manslaughter and arson.

"This is what's called involuntary manslaughter. It's something that happens when somebody does something that's extremely dangerous to human life but didn't intend to kill someone," Santa Clara County deputy district attorney Pablo Wudka-Robles explained to KTVU. "She either knew or should have known what she was doing here was extremely dangerous."

KTVU notes that Estrada had previously been found guilty of misdemeanor arson just last year, and that “some business owners near the scene said they had seen Estrada setting fires before.”

“The community is outraged. I'm outraged,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement to KTVU. “This suspect is well-known to our police officers. She has had multiple court appearances for misdemeanors and felonies in the last two years and she's been returned to the streets by the court system.”

“Now a beloved small business owner has been killed,” he added. “My heart breaks for Chris and his family."

Estrada is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at 1:30 pm at Santa Clara County Superior Court, though is currently on a psychiatric hold at an undisclosed San Jose hospital.

Related: SFPD Arrests Alleged Arsonist Who May Be Linked to Playground Arson Cases [SFist]

Image: @SJFD via Twitter

A 29-year-old man who was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and was seen lighting things on fire in a park Monday morning was arrested, and he may be linked to multiple fires in the Outer Richmond, two of which destroyed playgrounds.

San Francisco police are investigating whether 29-year-old Joseph Martinez is the sole culprit in a string of arson fires this month in the Outer Richmond. Martinez was taken into custody Monday around 1:30 am after plain-clothed officers observed him "igniting objects" while walking around Sutro Heights park, in the area of La Playa and Balboa streets.

The officers later "observed a large active working fire," and after canvassing the area, located and arrested Martinez, and he was booked into SF County Jail on "numerous charges."

As the Chronicle reports, those potential charges include arson, possession of an incendiary device with the intent to set fire to a structure or forest land, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Martinez hasn't yet been accused of the string of arsons that have been plaguing the Outer Richmond neighborhood, but those charges could be coming next. "SFPD is aware of several recent suspicious fires in the Richmond District, and we are continuing to work with the San Francisco Fire Department in our joint Arson Task Force to investigate these cases," the department said in a statement following Martinez's arrest.

Those suspected arsons include one that occurred in the early hours of May 1 on the 4500 block of Anza Street, and that fire destroyed a shed outside Lafayette Elementary School containing event decorations and school spirit materials.

A smaller fire occurred on May 10 at a playground at Lincoln Park, causing some damage to a slide.

The same arsonist appears to have returned to Lafayette Elementary on May 18, setting a larger fire that burned and melted a play structure and surface materials. And then, once again, a fire broke out three days later at the playground for older children at Lincoln Park, destroying around 2,500 square feet of climbing equipment, slides, and surface materials.

The SF Department of Rec and Parks estimates it could take six months to restore the playground and its equipment.

Lafayette Elementary School, Lincoln Park, and Sutro Heights Park, where Martinez was arrested Monday, are all in the same 10-block radius.

Photo of the damage at Lafayette Elementary School via Hallie Albert

Here's some next-level scandal for the Bayview-based tow truck firm Specialty Towing, as its owner was just indicted for committing arson on competitors' tow trucks, crimes totally unrelated to the company's previous charges of fraudulent tows and fake car accidents.

It would be hard to outdo the scandals that have hit the Bayview tow truck firm Specialty Towing. In February 2024, SF City Attorney Davd Chiu banned Specialty Towing from getting city contracts after they’d illegally towed cars and forced the owners to pay cash under the table to get them back. Then Mission Local reported Specialty Towing co-owner Jose Badillo bought a $300,000 Lamborghini while collecting welfare.

The company's Bayview tow-truck headquarters was even raided by the FBI this past August, but Specialty Towing is probably most notorious for the viral April 2024 video seen below where one of their tow trucks tried to tow a moving car in Union Square.

So yes, it would be hard to outdo those scandals, but they seem to have done it. NBC Bay Area reports that Specialty Towing’s co-owner Badillo is facing a federal indictment for blowing up his competitors’ tow trucks. He and his co-conspirators allegedly did this on four occasions: in SF in April 2023; once again later that month, another time in East Palo Alto in July 2023; and a pair of other tow trucks in SF in October 2023.

“Badillo allegedly orchestrated the conspiracy and then directed others to set fire to the targeted tow trucks,” according to a Department of Justice indictment announcement from Thursday. “The purpose of the conspiracy was, among other things, to drive more business to two Bay Area-based towing companies with which Badillo was associated—Auto Towing and Specialty Towing—by impeding the business prospects of competitor towing companies, and to retaliate against those same competitors for perceived wrongs.”  

The competitors are not named, nor are Badillo’s alleged co-conspirators.

The feds were already on Badillo’s case in that raid last August, which we learned was for faking car accidents to collect insurance money. In those incidents, Badillo and crew allegedly took cars that were already trashed and inoperable, staged fake accidents with them, and tried to collect the full value of the car in insurance money. That scheme netted more than $50,000.

Badillo’s arraignment is scheduled for March 20. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Related: FBI Raids Notorious Bayview Towing Company, the One That Tried to Tow a Moving Car [SFist]

Image: CherryRyu via Reddit

An activist who appeared to be going on a spree of arson and fire-bomb attacks on the UC Berkeley campus last summer in protest of the university's treatment of pro-Palestinian activists now faces prison time for terrorism.

Casey Robert Goonan, 34, has pleaded guilty to federal arson charges in connection with multiple incidents that occurred in June 2024 on the UC Berkeley campus, and one that occurred outside the federal building in Oakland. Goonan, a self-described "scholar activist" who had posted what appeared to be statements of responsibility for the attacks online, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2024 after an arrest in late June.

Goonan, who has had an address in Oakland, was staying with his parents in Pleasant Hill at the time of the arrest. According to a release from the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, as part of his plea, Goonan admitted to "placing a bag containing six Molotov cocktails underneath the fuel tank of a marked University of California Police Department (UCPD) patrol car at UC Berkeley in the early morning hours of June 1, 2024, lighting the bag on fire and fleeing."

A campus surveillance camera captured the fire being lit.

He also admitted to bringing three Molotov cocktails to the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland on the morning of June 11 with the intent of throwing them inside. Goonan was seen throwing rocks at a window with the intent of breaking it, a plan that was thwarted by a federal security guard, and while fleeing the scene Goonan dropped the Molotov cocktails in a planter and let them on fire.

Goonan further copped to setting several smaller blazes on the UC Berkeley campus on  June 1, June 13, and June 16.

Goonan holds a doctorate from Northwestern University in African American Studies, and wrote an academic paper in 2017 about the Black Panthers' newspaper, writing that the publication "offers a blueprint for U.S.-based radical organizations experimenting with the scientific, premeditated, and necessarily methodical artistry of social revolution."

In anonymous online posts found on IndyBay around the time of the UC Berkeley arsons, Goonan appears to have written messages like "EVERY SINGLE BUILDING ON THE UC BERKELEY CAMPUS DESERVES TO BE INCINERATED FOLLOWING THE UC SYSTEM'S TREATMENT OF STUDENT PROTESTORS," and "LONG LIVE THE STUDENT INTIFADA FOR PALESTINE LIBERATION. STOP THE GENOCIDE NOW. UC SYSTEM MUST DIVEST FROM ISRAEL OR FACE OUR WRATH OF REVENGE."

The fire set on June 16 was followed by the message, "this was done on father's day for all the palestinian fathers who have lost their children at the hands of the zionist and amerikkkan settler states."

Prior to these activities, as the Berkeley Scanner reported last year, Goonan was arrested in San Francisco during a protest outside an anti-trans (TERF) feminist convention that was being held in September 2023 at the Chinatown Hilton in San Francisco.

As part of Goonan's plea, he accepted a terrorism engancement to his charges, admitting that the arsons were "designed to influence and affect the conduct of governments by intimidation and coercion and to retaliate against the governments of the United States and the State of California for their conduct."

He pleaded guilty to one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive, and faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

"In America, we are all free to express our political views and petition the government. But we are not free to do so using violence,” said U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey in a statement. “Politically motivated violence undermines our democracy, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who engage in it.”

Goonan will face sentencing on April 8, 2025.

Previously: 'Scholar-Activist' Indicted By Grand Jury for Arsons at UC Berkeley; Arson Attempt at Oakland Federal Building Comes to Light

A 67-year-old woman who was recently reported missing is the suspect that the SFPD has been seeking in connection with racist threats that were left at the home of local dogwalker Terry Williams, in the weeks before his family's Alamo Square home mysteriously burned down.

A release from the SFPD Friday says that 67-year-old April Martin Chartrand was established as a suspect in the racist threat incident that Williams reported on April 26, 2024. And the department says it has a Ramey warrant for Chartrand's arrest, but has been unsuccessful in locating her.

Chartrand was subsequently reported missing by a family member on August 23. SFist has noted that on what appears to be her Instagram account, her last post was on August 22 — a photo of herself with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Police previously released a somewhat blurry image of a black-clad person who could be Chartrand, taken from surveillance video about a block away from Williams's home — presumably on the night that one of the racist objects appeared inside his gate.

Williams said that an offensive doll, which was covered with racial slurs and other words, was left on his doorstep with a noose around its neck. Subsequently, he also received threatening postcards and other material that contained other offensive language.

Williams was in a meeting at City Hall about the apparent hate crime when he received a call on May 21 that his Grove Street house was on fire.

As the Chronicle reports, Williams says that he does not know Chartrand, which makes this all even stranger.

Update: That seems to be false, and now KTVU is reporting that Williams did in fact know Chartrand from the neighborhood, and even knew the apartment building where she lives, around the corner from his home.

"I was shocked," Williams tells KTVU, after he learned who the suspect was. "It's a disgrace to Black people and you're an elder."

Williams said he had some negative encounters with Chartrand starting around five years ago, because she had put broken glass in front of her building that his dogs would walk near. Per KTVU, "He said he took her photo. He said that's when she became upset with him, but that it didn't escalate beyond an exchange of words. He said there was some lingering hostility whenever they saw each other."

Williams further tells the station that Chartrand would often "give me a little mean look. Stop and stare at me. I would be driving by or walking by and she'd say get your dogs away from me."

Chartrand's Instagram account has been flooded in the last year with sartorial photos of herself, all marked with branding for something she is calling DNA Street Style — which she described in one post as as a new project "to highlight our unique cultural identities, prompting contemplation about the essence of our DNA that resides within us all."

She added, "Therefore, I invite humankind to style themselves in ways that empower & elevate unique Pangean Street Styles."

Anyone who spots Chartrand is asked to call 911 and report her location and physical description. And anyone with information about her wherabouts is asked to call the tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the message with SFPD.

Previously: House Fire Near Alamo Square Potentially Linked to Racist Threats

You may recall Mendocino County’s 2021 Hopkins Fire, which destroyed more than 250 acres and nearly 30 homes, and now a 23-year-old man is on trial for the second time for allegedly starting it, after his first trial was declared a mistrial.

One of the most discouraging aspects of California wildfire season is that some of these incredibly destructive fires are started on purpose, and by arsonists. The currently raging Park Fire in Butte, Tehama, Plumas, and Shasta counties, a fire which is now geographically larger than the City of Los Angeles, is believed to have been caused by man pushing a burning car into a ravine.

And three years ago, Mendocino County’s Hopkins Fire torched 257 acres and burned nearly 30 homes, and authorities believe that fire too was intentionally set by a man named Devin Lamar Johnson.

It took a year-and-half for Johnson’s arson trial to begin, because of concerns about his mental competency. The trial was moved from Mendocino County to Marin County, and the jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial. Undaunted, Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster just started another new trial in Marin County, according to the Ukiah Daily Journal, with the now-23-year-old Johnson now facing arson charges again.

The prosecution is basing part of its case on photographs from Ukiah freelance photographer Peter Armstrong, whose specialty is wildfire photos. Armstrong has photos allegedly placing ​​Johnson near the source of the fire in the small Mendocino County town of Calpella not long after the blaze started.

No one was injured in the eighth-day Hopkins Fire, but dozens of homes were lost. “Nothing can replace what I lost that day,” homeowner Steve Schwartz told the Ukiah Daily Journal after the initial mistrial. “I lost 50 years of my life because I had stuff from when I was born and it will never be replaced.”

Per the Journal, the suspect Johnon was already on felony probation for attempted robbery when he was arrested on arson charges for the Hopkins Fire. He faces three charges of arson, an aggravated arson charge for burning multiple structures, and additional charges of  arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency.

Related: Chico Man Arrested For Allegedly Sparking Massive Wildfire By Pushing Burning Car Into Ravine [SFist]

Image via PG&E