At a sentencing hearing Thursday morning that was frequently interrupted by Bill Gene Hobbs mercilessly heckling his own victims, the convicted sexual assault suspect received a jail sentence totaling five and a half years.

The wheels of justice probably could have moved more quickly and efficiently in the prosecution of serial stalker, groper, and sexual harasser Bill Gene Hobbs. But on Thursday morning, this chapter in his creepy saga ended in a way that will hopefully bring his many victims some closure.

The public at large first became aware of Hobbs’s disturbing patterns in July 2021 when we learned that Hobbs had stalked and grabbed a 15-year-old girl in West Portal, and had previously been accused of stripping his clothes off and chasing a woman in Glen Canyon.

Those revelations brought more San Francisco women out of the woodwork to describe their own assault incidents that Hobbs instigated, leading to his eventual arrest last October. Hobbs went to trial for sexual assault last month, where a jury found him guilty on nine counts.

And on Thursday morning, the Chronicle reports Hobbs was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman.

“Everybody in this town, man or woman, especially women, needs to feel safe,” Dorfman said at the sentencing, according to the SF Standard. “This is not a case where Mr. Hobbs inappropriately touched one or two or three women. The jury returned verdicts as to nine separate cases.”

The sentence is fairly complicated, and Hobbs will get credit for more than a year of time already served. But he still gets a two and a half year sentence in SF County Jail, and then state prison for three years on his felony charge.

Two of his victims spoke at the sentencing, and Hobbs frequently and cruelly interrupted them with outbursts.

One of his victims, identified as Karina, described how Hobbs groped her while she was jogging, leaving her with extended periods of panic attacks and night terrors. “The assault I experienced has completely changed my life,” she said at the sentencing.

To which Hobbs snapped back, “Wow, get over yourself,” per the SF Standard.

At his trial in May, Hobbs was convicted on one felony count of false imprisonment, and eight misdemeanor counts of assault, battery, sexual battery. He will also be forced to register as a sex offender.

Related: Accused Serial Groper Bill Gene Hobbs Found Guilty On Nine Counts [SFist]

Image via USF

Alleged SF serial predator Bill Gene Hobbs has spent plenty more time in the headlines lately than in custody, though he was arrested Friday not long after a warrant was issued for him Friday morning.

34-year-old alleged serial sexual predator Bill Gene Hobbs has been well-known to the SF criminal justice system, and in the media, since a string of alleged sexual assaults in Glen Park last summer (including the alleged stalking and grabbing of a 15-year-old). There have since been plenty of other allegations of his groping, grabbing, and attempting to kiss women on SF streets, and he caused a ruckus at a Polk Street sports bar last weekend, but police let him go saying they lacked probable cause. Yet his cases keep getting tossed and his charges dismissed. The pattern has continued under both the previous DA Chesa Boudin and the current DA Brooke Jenkins.

Let’s hope this time is different. The Chronicle reports that an arrest warrant for Hobbs was issued Friday morning, and by Friday afternoon, he had been taken into custody. Per KTVU, Hobbs was arrested on the 3200 block of Van Ness Avenue on Friday.

Hobbs is described, per the Chronicle, as “standing 6-foot-4, sporting a buzz cut and covered in tattoos, including the letters E-V-I-L inked on his fingers.”  And the Chronicle has been publishing his photo for the last two weeks.

SFPD’s release said the arrest warrant was for: “On Friday, October 14, 2022, a San Francisco Superior Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Hobbs on the following charges: felony false imprisonment (236 PC), six counts of battery (242 PC), two counts of assault (240 PC), four counts of public nuisance (372 PC), and three counts of sexual battery (243.4(e)(1) PC).”

“Hobbs will be held accountable for the harassment and crimes he committed against women across San Francisco,” DA Jenkins said in a press release. “We will seek pre-trial detention because he is a public safety threat, and we must send a strong message that this type of behavior and harassment will not be tolerated.”

Jenkins neglects to mention she has twice dismissed his cases in her brief three months in office.

Jenkins added in a statement, "I think what has helped is the number of victims [14] who have come forward. It certainly helps to build a case to see a pattern of conduct, so someone can't make an excuse in one situation that it was harmless or unintentional."

It also seems fairly clear from witnesses that Hobbs's mental health is in question, and we'll see how this plays out.

The reporting on this one has been unusual. The Chronicle’s Heather Knight has done tenacious work in covering the Hobbs situation — though Knight previously also helped elevate Jenkins as the face of the Boudin recall with a series of flattering articles. And the story of this warrant for Hobbs was clearly fed specifically to Knight as an “exclusive,” with advance interviews already in the can. The press releases from the DA and SFPD announcing the warrant did not go out until about 30 minutes after the Chronicle published.

Anyone with further information about Hobbs is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.

Related: West Portal Stalking Case In Which Charges Were Dropped Provides More Fodder For SF Criminal Justice Critics [SFist]

Image: Cocoablini via Wikimedia Commons

This post has been updated throughout following Hobbs's arrest.

Tyra Banks was and vulnerable when she testified in the NYC trial of a man accused of stalking her. A lawyer for Brady Green, 39, claims his client is just an "overzealous fan" and that he's just reaching out to her, the way Banks tells fans on her website. However, a staffer for the Tyra Banks Show didn't appreciate Green's way of reaching out: A producer claims that Green threatened to slit his throat because he refused to give him the address of the studios. Green, who has sent flowers and made numerous calls, managed to find the studios anyway and was arrested when he went into an unsanctioned area. Banks said, "I don't live that kind of sheltered, protected life. I like to walk around my neighborhood...[But now] I fear the safety of my staffers. I fear the safety of my family. I fear the safety of people in my vicinity." FWIW, the courtroom sketch of Banks is amazing—you can just tell she's smiling with her eyes.

Oh my. This site sounded much more enthralling before we delved further. Still, it's interesting -- ripe with community-building spirit and harmonious stuff like that.

Curbed SF brought to our attention the following site: Shoot Your Neighbors. It seems that the good folks over at SYN want you to "1) download and print the words to this Sesame Street classic; 2) take photographs of the people in your neighborhood, 3) Email said shots of your photogenic (or not) neighbors here." And that's it.

Well, this sure sounds smurfy. That is, unless you're shy; you're trying to stop that knife-brandishing stalker from showing up at your door at 3:30 a.m.; or you're us. Other than that, it's a bang-up idea, and we look forward to seeing it grow.



Image credit: Shoot Your Neighbors / Heather Powazek Champ & Derek Powazek

As reported in the Chronicle today, Marlon Pagtakhan, 29, a Burlingame nerd and "rabid text messager," -- who was arrested several years ago for stalking Seven of Nine/Kirsten Cohen's bitch enabler -- just got nabbed. Again. This time for "stalking, harassing and threatening" an Illinois female wrestler and Hayward wrestling club members.

The article goes on to say that Pagtakhan "wrestled with the Hayward club at one point but was asked to leave because he was 'weird.'" Which? Wow. You must be exceptionally bizarre to get kicked out of a wresting salon.

And stalking isn't at all funny, we know, but...chortle. We almost feel bad for the poor guy. Scared of him, hell yes. But also bad. Anyway, Pagtakhan's bail was set at a whopping $800,000, and he'll appear in court on Aug. 23.

The Night Stalker police sketch credit: Don't know, probably Beelzebub himself--this image scared the hell out us when we were young.

-- Trannyshack's Siouxsie and the Banshees Night: Trannyshack icon and Scissor Sisters [NSFW] star Ana Matronic returns home to help Heklina host tonight's Siouxsie tribute. Also, we heard a rumor that Ana likes to watch live Broadway musical clips on YouTube. (i.e., str8-gay hipster suicide.) Is this true? We don't believe it. But if she does, she just landed herself a new stalker. Music starts at 10 p.m. and the show begins at midnight at the Stud, 399 - 9th Street (at Harrison).

-- Blues in the Night: A musical-romance using the work of Benny Goodman, the totally amazing Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, and other jazzy legends. Created and directed by Sheldon Epps. Starts at 8 p.m., Post Street Theater, 450 Post (at Mason); $35.

-- Patti Smith: Brilliant punk-rock poet/singer, Michael Stipe's fag hag, and leave-in conditioner hater performs, beautifully. Seriously, go see her. Starting at 9 p.m., the Fillmore; $35.

-- Paprika (2006): Japanese detective-anime flick screens twice at the 7:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight (at Cole); $5-$8.50.

Hey, remember Gavin Newsom's stalker, Han Shin? He's back in the news, appearing in court today to answer the charges that he tried to run over the roommate of a friend of his, right around the same time as Newsom got that stay-away order from him too. (We had forgotten Han Shin sent a bunch of letters to Ed Jew too! What address did Shin use, do you think?)

So here's the story. Shin shows up at his friend's house around 8:20 in the morning. His friend's not home, but his roommate (and cousin) answers the door. Shin kicks down the door and starts chasing the roommate around the house, and then grabs the roommate's gold piggy bank and a framed picture of his friend with....wait for it.... Gavin Newsom! Are all of Shin's friends obsessed with Gavin?

Anyhow, so Shin then gets in his car, and the roommate walked toward the car to get the license plate number. Shin then accelerates towards the roommate, driving over the lawn and almost hitting him. Shin does this three times, and then jumps out of the car and starts running after the cousin, who then gets in the house and shuts the door. Shin then threw a clay pot at the door, shattering it.

It sounds like Shin then left, and the cousin called the cops, who were looking for Shin anyways to serve Newsom's restraining order on him. You'll remember the cops then found Shin in a closet with a bunch of Newsom paraphernalia, and when they tried to take him in, Shin punched the cop in the face.

Man, we're just going through the Newsom archives putting this post together, and wow, March 2007 2006 was a busy month in Newsom news -- right after that was when all that Jennifer Siebel news broke too!

-- Guns-for-gift card trade today at Civic Center. [Chron]

-- How will Giants' owner Peter Magowan celebrate the moment Bonds makes the hit? [Examiner]

-- Rebecca Schaeffer's stalker cum murderer stabbed 11 times in prison. Ouch. [Chron, Examiner, via AP]

-- SJ hit-and-run suspect still at large. [KPIX]

-- Lawrence Livermore Labs plan for more uranium blasts. Yikes! [IndyBay]

-- Free Wi-Fi in SF? [The Register]