Prosecutors say ‘honey trap’ led to brutal gunpoint robbery and BMW theft in San Francisco’s Mission
Three men accused of a brutal beating and gunpoint robbery in San Francisco’s Mission district, who used a female accomplice to honey-trap their victim and lure him to a secluded location, are due in court this morning for a preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors say Michael Pineda, 22, Anthony Nolasco, 21, and David Valenzuela, 20, attacked the victim in the early hours of June 7 2025. At the time of the robbery, Pineda was on bail for armed robbery, Nolasco was on bail in another gun case, and Valenzuela was wanted on auto theft charges.
The victim was approached near the intersection of 19th and South Van Ness streets by a young woman who told him she admired his BMW M3. She persuaded him to drive her eight blocks to Franklin Square – a quieter location where she said they could “hang out.”
On arrival, though, four suspects leaped from a Toyota Prius, and three of them pointed handguns directly at the BMW driver and demanded his belongings. While he was handing over his wallet, phone and cash, one attacker pistol-whipped him twice on the side of his head, causing him to collapse, after which the group beat him while he was in the fetal position. He was then pistol-whipped again.
After the assailants fled, the victim drove to nearby San Francisco General Hospital for medical help. As he hurried into the emergency room, the wounded victim overlooked that he had left his car running and unsecured in the parking lot. Prosecutors say video surveillance footage from the hospital lot shows the assailants’ Prius pulling up beside the BMW, two suspects getting out, and driving away with the car.
Later that morning the victim’s debit card was used to buy drinks from a nearby gas station.
Investigators honed in on the suspects after another officer, who had detained the trio three weeks before the robbery in connection with an auto theft case and found unspent ammunition in their car, recognized them from the gas station footage.
They subsequently found photographs on Valenzuela’s Instagram account of the victim’s German sports car.
It later transpired, prosecutors say, that Pineda and Nolasco also staged an August 2 armed robbery of a victim at a city Bob’s Donuts store.
All three were arrested on September 19. At Pineda’s home police found a ‘ghost gun’.
“This deliberate attack shows [the defendants] are willing and able not only to commit crime, but also to inflict great bodily injury on innocent victims,” prosecutor Robert Perkins wrote in a motion to detain the trio.
Perkins said all three admitted to involvement in the incident.
Prosecutors are silent on the identity of the fourth suspect in the car and the woman.
Pineda was on bail at the time of the robbery in a 2024 armed robbery case – in which he and an accomplice were accused of beating a man to unconsciousness on a Visitacion Valley street.
When arrested, he was found with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol in his waistband. He was released on his own recognizance by Judge Kenneth Wine on October 23 2024.
Nolasco was also on bail in a different 2024 gun case. Valenzuela was wanted in Alameda county for auto theft.
The defendants, who remain in custody, have each pleaded not guilty to robbery and firearms offenses.
The case continues.
To protect the privacy of suspected and convicted offenders, San Francisco Police Department will not release mugshots of any person arrested.
Please support our work by using this Paypal link
To be notified of new stories enter your email address here or follow us on X