Two years for felon who shot man outside homeless ‘navigation center’ on San Francisco’s Embarcadero
A felon wearing an ankle monitor who shot a man during a brazen attack in the parking lot of a troubled navigation center on San Francisco’s Embarcadero was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment today.
Darien Diaz, 33, drove his Dodge Challenger into the lot at 9:30am on March 8 2026. He racked the slide of a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at a group of people, before firing at a man sitting in a Ford Explorer.
That man was struck in the thigh and required surgery for injuries including a fractured femur.
Diaz drove away and was arrested several hours later and placed at the scene at the crime thanks to the GPS monitor he had been previously ordered to wear. A bench warrant had been issued six days before the incident after he failed to appear in court for arraignment in a DUI case.
The Embarcadero centre is a magnet for crime and has drawn complaints since it opened in 2019. Staff logged 15 overdoses inside the building in 2023, 17 in 2024 and nine in the first three months of 2025. Clients take drugs openly in its courtyard. In May, two staff at the Bayview Navigation Center were arrested for hiding an armed felon who had just shot a police officer with a ghost gun.
“It’s my intention to sentence Mr Diaz consistent with the plea agreement entered into,” said Judge Brian Stretch today at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice, endorsing a two-year state prison term.
He told Diaz that the 185 days he had served in jail so far qualified for ‘4019 credits’ – effectively doubling the figure, with all of it coming off his sentence.
He earlier pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Other charges, including two gun assault charges, were dismissed today.
Prosecutor Kourtney Bell was clear with the court that Diaz was not arrested with a gun, and the basis for the possession charge to which Diaz pleaded guilty was a video showing him opening fire on his victim.
The injured man was himself found guilty of battery in 2025 after attacking a woman outside a SOMA nightclub.
After a brutal attack on his girlfriend in Pacifica in 2022, Diaz was convicted of domestic violence, assault, false imprisonment and making threats, and served a state prison term.
It remains to be seen whether Diaz’ outstanding misdemeanor DUI case will result in him racking up more double time credits in county jail before his moving to state prison.
The leniency of Diaz’ treatment will raise more questions over district attorney Brooke Jenkins’ approach toward gun crime. Last year, Lee Haywood – who fired first in what became a 59-round rolling gun battle along the Embarcadero – was sentenced to 174 days in jail.
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