San Francisco – On the afternoon of Thursday, March 26th, Park Station officers Zimiga and Srinivas were dispatched to Alamo Square Park on the report of an assault. According to information released by the department, the female victim was walking her dog when a man began verbally abusing her because she’d let her dog off its leash.
The assailant was apparently angered because her dog had approached the area where he had multiple dogs. Fearing for her safety, the victim photographed the man, which prompted him to physically contact her, wrestling her to the ground while attempting to take the phone from her.
Walking dogs and relaxing are popular activities at Alamo Square.
According to the information, two bystanders came to the aid of the victim, which prompted the man to retrieve his multiple dogs and flee the scene before officers arrived.
Then, almost three weeks later, on Tuesday, April 7th, Sergeant Bernadette Robinson received a call that the assailant was back at the park. Robinson responded to the scene and matched the suspect to the photograph obtained from the victim’s cellphone.
44-year-old Michael Waddell of San Francisco was arrested on attempted robbery, battery and false imprisonment charges. At the time of arrest, Waddell was in possession of four dogs.
Because he would not provide the names of the dogs’ owners, they were taken to Animal Care and Control. According to the department press release, all the animals are okay.
