Bail win for man accused of firing into packed rush hour Muni bus – but he must attend anger management classes
A man accused of opening fire on a passenger in a crowded rush hour Muni bus last week has been ordered released by a San Francisco judge – and told to take anger management classes.
Prosecutors say John Slaviero started a dispute with another straphanger as he was leaving the bus at Washington Square in the city’s North Beach neighborhood just after 6:15pm on November 5.
He pushed the man, who pushed him back. Slaviero then became enraged, according to court documents, and drew a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver once outside the bus and started shooting.
“The gunfire caused people to duck, flee and scream,” wrote assistant district attorney Rebecca Warren in a motion to detain.
The bus was packed with riders including children, she said.
“Two bullet holes were in the bus, including one in a window and another in the metal frame above it, near the seat the victim was attempting to occupy.”
“[Slaviero] intentionally retrieved and fired a loaded firearm into a crowded public bus over a minor dispute, placing numerous passengers and bystanders at risk of serious injury or death.”
A heroic bystander tackled the shooter and held him on the ground until police arrived. A revolver recovered at the scene contained five live rounds and two spent casings.
The suspect later claimed that he had wanted to scare his target.
Slaviero, 67, appeared for arraignment November 10 at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice. At that hearing Judge John Echeverria ordered him released on condition that he wear an ankle monitor. He must also take anger management classes and not ride any Muni vehicles for the time being.
He was represented at the hearing by an intern from the public defender’s office – Keyon Talia – who succeeded in securing his client’s release in the most unpromising of circumstances. Jean Roland appeared for the D.A.
Slaviero, who has pleaded not guilty to gun assault, assault on a transit passenger, shooting at an occupied vehicle, carrying a loaded gun, carrying a concealed gun, and possession of metal knuckles, will appear in court next on November 17 for a status hearing.
Although he was booked for attempted murder, he does not presently face an attempted murder charge, reflecting an apparent ongoing reluctance on the part of San Francisco prosecutors to pursue that charge even in seemingly straightforward circumstances.
The incident is just the latest incidence of horrifying violence on Muni buses and light rail vehicles.
SFMTA leadership seems unbothered by the violence. Officials spent two years developing a ‘safety equity action plan’, redesigning the agency’s harassment feedback form, and placing ‘Gender-based harassment and assault are unacceptable’ decals in all vehicles.
Nowhere in that plan’s 12 pages does the agency call on police to arrest, prosecutors to charge, or judges to keep perpetrators in custody. It records instead that crime on Muni is “low” and sets itself the task of improving how riders feel about it.
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