On August 7, San Francisco Police reported the arrest of Derrick Yearby, the perpetrator of the racist assault on lifelong public worker Greg Chew. Following his arrest, Yearby was taken to the San Francisco County Jail. Gregory ‘Greg’ Chew, a former immigrant rights commissioner, has served on several municipal commissions and is a prominent leader in San Francisco’s Asian-American community. Greg Chew stated that on Tuesday, August 2, he was going along Folsom and Third Streets when an attacker emerged on a bicycle and started striking him out of nowhere. The attack left him with a swollen eye and a damaged left shoulder.
The San Francisco Officers Department’s Public Information Officer, Kathryn Winters, informed the press that the police were lucky to have a large number of pictures and video evidence for the event, allowing for the quick arrest.
She stated:
“Officers in this event were able to rapidly locate and identify the culprit. So there are some fantastic policemen out there performing decent police job.”
Following the event, Greg Chew claimed that nothing was taken, sparking accusations that it was a racial hate crime. Yearby, on the other hand, has yet to be charged. Investigators are looking into the case further.
Greg Chew was the target of an unprovoked assault.
The San Francisco Police Department stated in a news statement published on Sunday that officers assigned to Southern Station responded on August 2 after receiving a complaint of an aggravated assault. Greg Chew reported to police that he had been hit and knocked down by an unidentified offender. He also remembers hitting the ground and blacking out after the attack, but later discovered his cash and mobile phone still in his pockets. He went on to state that his assailant didn’t say anything to him and didn’t rob him.
Derrick Yearby, 34, arrested by @SFPDTenderloin on suspicion of aggravated battery, assault & elder abuse in attack on AAPI leader Greg Chew, (pic) former member of the @sfgov arts, film & immigrants rights commissions, at 3rd & Folsom, per @SFPD @SFPDSouthern pic.twitter.com/MXtaBzfczM
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 8, 2022
According to a news release sent by Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s office:
“There should be no place in San Francisco for this sort of violence, which has disproportionately targeted elders in our AAPI communities in recent years.”
In the statement, he also said that SF police had documented a 567 percent spike in hate crimes against Asians in 2021 alone. Yearby was brought to the San Francisco County Jail, where he is being held on suspicion of aggravated violence resulting in severe bodily harm, assault with force likely to result in great bodily damage, elder abuse, and enhancement of great bodily injury, according to Dorsey’s office.
