Lee Heidhues 8.29.2023
The cold blooded murder of a clerk at the Richmond Market took place just three blocks from our home in the neighborhood we have lived in for decades.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Standard and SF Gate 8.29.2023
LATEST: Aug. 29, 3:45 p.m. A 60-year-old San Francisco store clerk died after being beaten with a bat during a violent robbery, the family told KTVU-TV. The clerk, who was in a coma, died around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the family said.
A San Francisco shopkeeper has died after a brutal assault on Thursday, his daughter told The Standard on Tuesday.
Richmond Market store clerk Yohannes “John” Tewolde was pushed to the ground and beaten with a baseball bat after confronting a suspected thief in the store, his eldest daughter, Meron Tewolde, said.
Tewolde said her father, who was hospitalized, died around 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
“My dad was just trying to do the right thing,” she said. “My dad stood up in front of him; the guy pushed my dad and smashed his head with a baseball bat.”
The San Francisco Police Department has not released an updated statement following Tewolde’s death.
On Monday evening, a police spokesperson confirmed the incident and said no arrests had been made.
“The suspect confronted the victim, who was holding a bat,” a police spokesperson said. “The suspect assaulted the victim, took the bat from the victim, then struck the victim with the bat. The suspect then threw the bat at another victim and fled the scene in an unknown sedan. The second victim was not injured during this incident.”
Police said this is an ongoing investigation and a suspect has not been arrested. Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to contact the department at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sf-store-clerk-allegedly-hit-bat-robbery-police-18335232.php
Top photo: SFPD at the crime scene on August 24, 2023
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