SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Residents of San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood packed a community meeting on Monday night to voice their concerns about the concurrent increases of both homelessness and crime in the area.
Over the weekend, San Francisco police said a mentally ill homeless man viciously attacked a man walking in Washington Square Park with his young son.
This attack was just one example in an uptick of violent incidents that have occurred in North Beach over the last six months.
“A huge uptick in crime and quality of life issues that have become frightening for a lot of people,” said Erica Sandberg, a San Francisco resident.
Reports of mentally ill homeless people committing a variety of crimes in San Francisco have increased in recent months. Some of these crimes include the homicide of a store clerk and the random stabbing of two people with scissors just down from the crooked section of Lombard Street.