Property crime increases in S.F.’s J-Town, as police presence decreases

This year, the city of San Francisco as a whole has seen an increase in property crime, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Some San Francisco Japantown merchants said they have also noticed an increase in crime. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, crime is expected to increase as well. “We’re historically […]

San Francisco Murder of Five Spotlights Asian Gambling Addiction

What drove Binh Thai Luc, 35, to be charged on March 27 with slaying five people in a San Francisco home on March 23? The grisly murders have rocked the city and left investigators and the public searching for a motive. “We’re not discussing any potential motive for these killings,” stated Omid Talai, spokesman for […]

Man charged with English teacher’s murder releases a book about his years on the run

The man charged with killing a young English conversation teacher in Japan in 2007 has released a book about the 31 months he spent avoiding capture. In March 2007, Lindsay Ann Hawker, a 22-year-old British teacher, met Tatsuya Ichihashi at a cafe for an English lesson. She’d expressed some misgivings about him to her friends, […]

Mean streets

TOKYO VICE: AN AMERICAN REPORTER ON THE POLICE BEAT IN JAPAN By Jake Adelstein (New York: Pantheon, 2009, 335 pp., $26.00, hardcover) Chasing stories for the world’s biggest newspaper was tough on Jake Adelstein. As a crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shinbun, he had his share of run-ins with yakuza thugs. Getting occasionally slapped around […]

Woman, 23, murdered in SF Japantown

A young woman who was shot to death in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood on Thursday night has been identified by the San Francisco medical examiner’s office as Medina Abdulkader. Abdulkader, 23, of San Francisco, was killed at about 8:55 p.m. Nov. 25 near the intersection of Buchanan Street and Geary Boulevard, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield […]

Conviction in killing of Rohnert Park custom guitar maker Sakashita

SANTA ROSA, Calif. —  A Sonoma County jury on Sept. 28 convicted Joshua Begley of all charges in connection with the stabbing murder of Rohnert Park custom guitar maker Taku Sakashita in his workshop on Feb. 11. Begley, 29, was convicted of felony first-degree murder during the commission of a robbery as well as robbery, […]

Owner of pit bulls that killed toddler says one dog had shown signs of aggression

MARTINEZ, Calif. (Bay City News Service) — Steven Hayashi, a 52-year-old Concord, Calif. man arrested July 22 after three of his pit bulls attacked and killed his 2-year-old step-grandson, said in an emotional jailhouse interview in Martinez July 23 that one of the dogs had shown previous signs of aggression. The attack happened at the […]

Homicide suspects arrested in Daly City to be extradited back to Washington State

Bay City News Service – Two men arrested in Daly City over the weekend will be extradited back to Washington State, where they are accused of fatally shooting a man who was trying to sell a ring on Craigslist last month. Kiyoshi Higashi, 22, and Joshua Reese, 20, waived their right to fight extradition at […]

City, Community Leaders Convene Over Racial Tensions

(Bay City News Service) — A series of recent highly publicized crimes in San Francisco involving Chinese victims have heightened tensions between the Asian and black communities, prompting city leaders on April 26 to call for a more proactive approach to community policing and outreach from the city. Following a lengthy meeting at City Hall […]

Japanese American Dies After Alleged Assault in Ventura, Calif.

One night in October, Glenn S. Hanamoto walked into the Red Cove bar in Ventura, Calif. to sell hot dogs and was allegedly attacked by skinheads. The next morning he was dead. After leaving the bar on his own power on Sunday, Oct. 18, the 44-year-old Hanamoto told his girlfriend that “some skinheads beat me […]