San Francisco police on Friday named a suspect in a series of racist incidents that targeted the home of a longtime Black Alamo Square resident and dog walker, Terry Williams, whose family had said they felt abandoned by the city in the aftermath of the alleged hate crimes.
April Martin Chartrand, a 67-year-old Black city resident, left a series of racist packages at the home of beloved dog walker Williams, according to a communiqué sent by the police department today asking for the public’s help in locating the suspect.
Williams said he got a call today about Chartrand from the police chief, and upon seeing her image realized she is a neighbor and also lives on Alamo Square. He says he had one negative interaction with her years ago, which he believes resulted in Chartrand’s resentment toward him.
About five or six years ago, he says, Chartrand was breaking plates into tiny shards on the corner outside her apartment, and leaving them under a tree to prevent dogs from urinating there, Williams said.
“I said ‘What the hell are you doing, don’t do that, I have dogs!’” Williams said. “I’m an animal lover, I don’t care if you’re Black or not … she never liked me after that.”
Williams said that, for the past several years, Chartrand would “mug me, give me a mean look” when they would pass each other in the neighborhood.
Williams reported receiving a package on April 26 with items like a black doll with a noose around its neck and a list of racial slurs against Black people, and on May 5 received another similar package that included KKK imagery. Police called the first incident a hate crime. Soon after, his house went up in flames while his elderly parents were on the top floor — many connected the fire with the racist incidents, but the fire department says the cause of the blaze remains undetermined.
In late May, police announced they had a “possible suspect,” then in June released the photo of a “person of interest” in the hate crimes. Since then, Williams told Mission Local he had heard very little from the city about his case or getting support for housing in San Francisco.
Police put out a communiqué today seeking the general public’s assistance in locating the 67-year-old Chartrand, and announced they have obtained a warrant for Chartrand’s arrest.
A police source tells Mission Local that Chartrand was served with a DNA seizure warrant on Aug. 14. She purportedly attempted to flee and was chased down, and the DNA sample was obtained. A family member reported Chartrand as missing since August 23.
A call to Chartrand’s number went straight to voicemail.
Today, learning about the arrest warrant — though no arrest has yet been made — Willliams said he feels a sense of relief.
“What I feel is that I can finally breathe. Now I know who the person is,” Williams said, though he expressed disbelief that the hate mail came from a fellow Black person. “I have a lot of mixed emotions … What was on your mind? You wanna make this a racial thing, that’s crazy.”
Chartrand, according to her social media, has a master’s degree from San Francisco State University and is a dominatrix. She calls herself an artist, designer, and researcher who has created “DNA Streetstyle.”
On Aug. 11, Chartrand wrote a post condemning racism, after a run-in with a woman who yelled at her in the street of the Mission District.
“I ran out of there so fast … it was very triggering, yet again,” Chartrand wrote. “This kind of thing is so triggering and just scary beyond anything I can say here. So, use this as a lesson to open your perceptions about the undercurrents of racism and bigotry that is pervasive in all of society and also in San Francisco (USA).”
Chartrand also said she was met by “mass racism in every aspect of my life” while living in San Francisco since 1980.
Additional reporting by Joe Eskenazi
Police have asked anyone with information about this case to call 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the message with SFPD.
About the author
Wells Fargo sign blows loose; firefighters on scene
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. The corner of Mission and 22nd has been sealed off and firefighters have ascended a ladder to remove a Wells Fargo sign overlooking the intersection, which came loose during a gusty day. Earlier in the evening, pedestrians were asked to avoid the vicinity in the event the large red-and-yellow bank sign fell. Building representatives were also on scene, and the fire department said it was opening to securing or removing the sign. They chose the latter, with the property owner’s permission. “This is an isolated hazard and we ask that you avoid the area,” the fire department added in a statement, advising travelers to plan alternative routes. Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily […]
More than half of women fleeing domestic abuse turned away from safe refuge due to chronic shortages
More than half of domestic abuse survivors face homelessness after being turned away from refuges due to a chronic national shortage of spaces.The latest figures show around six in 10 women fleeing domestic violence who sought a space in a refuge in England over a year were denied a place.Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 27,754 women were referred to a refuge between April 2022 and March 2023 but only 10,824 were accepted, with 16,930 women left with nowhere to go. This is the equivalent of one woman being turned away every two hours.The shocking statistics come as The Independent launches its Brick by Brick campaign in partnership with charity Refuge to raise £300,000 and build a house for women escaping abusive partners.Be a brick, buy a brick and donate here or text BRICK to 70560 to donate […]
United Dumplings: A Bernal Heights delight
The original United Dumplings has been on Cortland in Bernal since late 2020, but my first time trying their food was just last year at their Oakland location. Women-owned, United Dumplings offers a mix of tradition and innovation, and it all tastes authentically great. I was blown away by the quality of the dumplings and the variety of offerings — of not just dumplings but the myriad noodles, rice, veggie, and tofu options. I was overjoyed to learn (very belatedly) that we had one so close to the Mission. The original is a bit more casual and spare than its East Bay cousin, but the menus seem to be identical. (There’s also another outpost in the Marina.)Pea shoots I tried in Oakland were a favorite, so I had to have them here.Pea ShootsThey were so abundantly garlicky, and so lusciously creamy, they almost seemed […]
Looking for a job? One sector where they are ‘booming’
With fears around mass layoffs worsening, Clayco executive chairman and founder Bob Clark shares good news for one sector: construction. Clark joined Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman on Opening Bid to provide a little hope: "If you're a skilled craftsperson right now and you're willing to travel a little bit, you can get a job at an extremely high pay rate." Clark's company has seen extraordinary growth particularly in data center demand and sees that way this will positively impact the whole of the economy, saying that full employment in construction trade "really causes a trickle down positive effect on the economy."For full episodes of Opening Bid, watch on our website or listen on your favorite podcast platform. Source: finance.yahoo.com
Controller assumes de facto control of Human Rights Commission
In a Friday afternoon letter to San Francisco officials, city controller Greg Wagner announced his office would essentially assume control of the scandal-plagued Human Rights Commission, with his “accounting staff immediately to oversee accounting operations at HRC, including approvals of payments and other financial transactions.”The Human Rights Commission’s director, Sheryl Davis, resigned at Mayor London Breed’s behest yesterday and hired a defense attorney after a slew of news articles alleging cavalier or even potentially illegal spending.The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday revealed that Davis spent some $10,000 renting a home for city interns on Martha’s Vineyard, allegedly splitting the invoice to evade city reporting requirements for purchases of $10,000 or more. On the same day, the San Francisco Standard noted that Davis had directed some $1.5 million in funding to the nonprofit Collective Impact, which is overseen by James Spignola. […]
More men accuse ex-Abercrombie boss over sex events
More men have come forward to the BBC accusing the former chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner of sexual exploitation. Some allege they were abused, and some that they were injected with drugs.Luke says he was shocked as he was guided into Mike Jeffries’ presidential suite in a hotel in Spain. "It was like a movie set of an Abercrombie store," he recalls of the event in 2011. "And I thought we were going to do a photoshoot."He says the room was dimly lit with erotic photos of men’s abs adorning the dark walls. In the middle, a group of assistants dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch uniforms - polos, blue jeans and flip-flops - were casually folding clothes on a table, pretending to be shop workers, he says.Then aged 20, Luke says he had been offered […]
Related
Wells Fargo sign blows loose; firefighters on scene
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. The corner of Mission and 22nd has been sealed off and firefighters have ascended a ladder to remove a Wells Fargo sign overlooking the intersection, which came loose during a gusty day. Earlier in the evening, pedestrians were asked to avoid the vicinity in the event the large red-and-yellow bank sign fell. Building representatives were also on scene, and the fire department said it was opening to securing or removing the sign. They chose the latter, with the property owner’s permission. “This is an isolated hazard and we ask that you avoid the area,” the fire department added in a statement, advising travelers to plan alternative routes. Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily […]
United Dumplings: A Bernal Heights delight
The original United Dumplings has been on Cortland in Bernal since late 2020, but my first time trying their food was just last year at their Oakland location. Women-owned, United Dumplings offers a mix of tradition and innovation, and it all tastes authentically great. I was blown away by the quality of the dumplings and the variety of offerings — of not just dumplings but the myriad noodles, rice, veggie, and tofu options. I was overjoyed to learn (very belatedly) that we had one so close to the Mission. The original is a bit more casual and spare than its East Bay cousin, but the menus seem to be identical. (There’s also another outpost in the Marina.)Pea shoots I tried in Oakland were a favorite, so I had to have them here.Pea ShootsThey were so abundantly garlicky, and so lusciously creamy, they almost seemed […]
Controller assumes de facto control of Human Rights Commission
In a Friday afternoon letter to San Francisco officials, city controller Greg Wagner announced his office would essentially assume control of the scandal-plagued Human Rights Commission, with his “accounting staff immediately to oversee accounting operations at HRC, including approvals of payments and other financial transactions.”The Human Rights Commission’s director, Sheryl Davis, resigned at Mayor London Breed’s behest yesterday and hired a defense attorney after a slew of news articles alleging cavalier or even potentially illegal spending.The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday revealed that Davis spent some $10,000 renting a home for city interns on Martha’s Vineyard, allegedly splitting the invoice to evade city reporting requirements for purchases of $10,000 or more. On the same day, the San Francisco Standard noted that Davis had directed some $1.5 million in funding to the nonprofit Collective Impact, which is overseen by James Spignola. […]
San Francisco District 3 debate filled by conservative voices
Residents who listened to Friday night’s District 3 forum witnessed a supervisor race speeding toward a conservative endpoint, with five candidates poised to replace Supervisor Aaron Peskin often collectively supporting tough-on-crime measures and police commission reforms while opposing reparations for Black Americans. The sixth candidate, Wendy Ha Chau, didn’t attend the forum.The direction was led by candidate Matt Susk, who previously worked in private real estate and who is endorsed by organizations like the big-money groups Neighbors for a Better San Francisco and ConnectedSF, which is largely funded by Neighbors; San Francisco Association of Realtors; and the San Francisco Police Officers Association. Among the three leading candidates, Sen. Scott Wiener’s pick, Danny Sauter, occasionally emerged as the more progressive voice on stage, surpassing his two Peskin-endorsed competitors. He was the strongest pro-reparations voice, for example, among the candidates. The latter includes Moe […]
Tenant lawyers demand SF cut Potrero Hill property manager
Attorneys for residents who have faced a slew of evictions from the Potrero Hill public housing complex in recent months today called on the San Francisco Housing Authority’s board of commissioners to fire the company that manages the site. The company, Eugene Burger Management, oversees the aging Potrero Terrace-Annex public housing site and has been evicting alleged squatters from their homes — even those who say they paid rent to an employee of the firm. That employee, who has since been fired, allegedly pocketed their money under the table but acted as a representative of the company. “They are still managing the complex today. How is that possible?” asked Eviction Defense Collaborative attorney Jessica Santillo, who represents some of about 40 households being evicted. “Rather than offering new housing or even transitional housing, the city is forcibly removing residents from their homes […]
Do you support Prop. L?
Welcome back to our weekly “Meet the Candidates” series, in which District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse. Next week, I will be out of office. Reach me at junyao@missionlocal.com. As the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency faces a $240 million budget deficit, voters will weigh a ballot measure in November that may alleviate some of that fiscal shortfall. The measure, Prop. L, would increase taxes on ride-hailing companies (like Lyft and Uber) and autonomous vehicle companies (like Waymo) with more than $500,000 or more in gross receipts. The funding would be used to support Muni’s transit services and discount programs. If passed, Prop. L would bring […]
Be the first to leave a comment