San Francisco’s most notorious street predator walks free 28 months after FBI employee attack
One of the most prolific exponents of random street attacks in San Francisco – with a 100-page rap sheet of violent and sexual assaults against women and children – will be released in days after a federal judge today gave him a time-served 28-month sentence for smashing a female FBI employee in the mouth as she walked home from the Bureau’s city office.
Akal Allen approached the woman, a crisis management specialist working for the FBI’s counter terrorism branch, on the early evening of June 8 2023, yelling angrily, and “without provocation” punched her in the face, breaking her nose and causing her to later develop facial paralysis.
He struck her one more time before fleeing, later attacking other pedestrians.
“Many people have been victimized by Mr Allen’s conduct and, really, victimized by Mr Allen’s schizophrenia,” said U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria this afternoon. “We need to do everything we can to prevent Mr Allen hurting anybody else, as a result of his mental illness or otherwise.
Allen has spent much of the past two years in a federal medical center after a court found him incompetent to stand trial where, the court was earlier told, he enjoyed the regular ‘burger nights’.
He earlier pleaded guilty to assault on a federal employee.
Allen’s criminal-career highlights demonstrate how he has been indulged by a succession of judges – none of whom have got to grips with the danger he poses or acted to prevent him harming others.
In 2011 he choked, punched and repeatedly raped a developmentally disabled 21-year-old woman, who prosecutors said had “the mentality of a child”, after leading her to an abandoned Vallejo house.
He pleaded guilty to ‘unlawful sexual intercourse’ and was given two years’ imprisonment.
In 2014 he broke into a house in San Francisco’s Alamo Square where two girls, age 12 and 14, were home alone. The 14-year-old encountered Allen in the family bathroom and was asked by him to come inside, before both girls escaped. Allen served 44 days for aggravated trespass.
In 2019 he walked into a San Francisco laundromat, stripped naked and masturbated in front of a series of women doing their laundry, including one folding clothes with her child, before rubbing his erect penis on the buttocks of another woman.
“I pulled my dick out, yeah, that ain’t a crime,” Allen explained to police officers who arrived on the scene and arrested him nearby.
He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and was released after nine months in jail.
He was subsequently arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in November 2020, in Oakland, and then in San Francisco, for assault with a deadly weapon, in June 2022 and for assault and battery in December 2022. The assault on the FBI employee took place in June 2023.
In February 2003 he pleaded ‘no contest’ to a felony count of ‘inflicting cruel or inhuman punishment on a child in June 2001. He was sentenced to a notional four years’ imprisonment, but by early 2005 he had already picked up more arrests.
Today in courtroom four of San Francisco federal courthouse Judge Chhabria endorsed the joint recommendation of defense and government attorneys.
“I do not think that I would have been comfortable with this agreement and this recommendation if I didn’t believe that Mr Allen was committed to turning things around,” he said, “if I didn’t believe that he was committed to taking his medication, if I didn’t believe we had measures in place to protect the safety of the community in a way that they weren’t protected before from Mr Allen.”
“If there is any sign of medication non-compliance, if there is any indication of criminal activity, there will be serious consequences,” warned the judge.
Earlier the court had heard from attorneys, the victim and the perpetrator.
“This is a difficult case because of the nature of the offense,” said assistant U.S. attorney Michael Lagrama, who proposed Allen’s release. “The victim was substantially physically and emotionally harmed, and there is also a criminal record here, but in terms of the resolution we’re proposing…it’s clear from these proceedings that Mr Allen suffers from a mental health disorder that was likely a primary causative factor in his offense. We thank Mr Allen for taking that seriously, and voluntarily taking his anti-psychotic medication and regaining his competency and taking responsibility.”
Allen’s victim, the FBI employee, told the court about the impact of the crime.
“My life has drastically changed since my interaction with Mr Allen,” she said. “While I have been able to cope with my physical and mental issues, it has been a difficult journey.
She noted that she was far from Allen’s only victim over the years.
“While many of us cannot go back to what we’ve lost from Mr Allen’s actions, my hope is that Mr Allen has the resources to become a contributing member of the community and break the cycle of violence.”
“I apologize for my actions,” Allen told the court in brief remarks.
“I’m very thankful for a second chance.”
Among Allen’s condition of release are requirements he take anti-psychotic medication and reside in an approved halfway house setting. He will be treated by Dr Jacob Izenberg of UCSF Citywide Case Management with respect to his mental health treatment, supported by social worker Brendan Mulligan. Probation officials, represented in court by probation officer Melissa Moy, will also supervise Allen’s release.
Allen will be freed from San Francisco County Jail, where he is presently incarcerated, on November 3.
Update: the court has since been informed that Javier Gaytan Quevedo has replaced Brendan Mulligan as Allen’s ‘intensive case manager’ as of December 10 2025.
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