In brief: The challenging environment faced by law enforcement seeking to address city drug dealing is illustrated in a new criminal complaint detailing an attempt to detain a man covertly observed selling drugs at Civic Center on the evening of August 24.
Franklin Hernandez-Cruz, 29, fought an SFPD arrest team for a full three minutes. Bystanders displayed a less-than-public-spirited approach to assisting the police during the commotion, opting instead to steal one officer’s bodycam and to make off with bags of suspected fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and cash flung to the ground by Hernandez-Cruz in the midst of the struggle.
The defendant, who is presently in custody, will be arraigned on September 19 at San Francisco federal courthouse before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Kang. Prosecutors say he was subject to three previous ‘stay away’ orders issued by SF Superior Court and is currently on probation.
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