UPDATE: SFPD Nabs Alleged Muni Humper
Photo by Flickr user sirchuckles
Update: Detective Jim Serna of the SFPD is asking more victims and witnesses to speak with the police, in the hopes of building a stronger case against the suspect. Serna asks that you call the SFPD Sex Offender Unit at 415.553.9203 if you’ve been a victim or witness of the Muni Humper.
Original post: You remember him. You first told us about him in a colorful diary. He tormented your dreams and bus rides. He made the evening news. He even made it onto the stage in the form of a haiku “tribute” at Riders With Drinks.
Well, earlier this afternoon, we received word from Plug1 that the San Francisco Police Department has arrested a man who they believe to be the Muni Humper. He is being processed down at the Hall of Justice. Here are the details Plug1 told us:
back in June, i was mentioning the Muni Diaries coverage of the “Muni Humper” to a friend one day; who in return mentioned that she had not only seen this guy all the time on the N, but had been victim herself. her story was the same: the Muni Humper boards a middle/back door on a crowded N during rush hour, proceeds to hover over an unsuspecting female victim, and grinds/rubs himself on her shoulder — and when discovered, gets off at the next stop.
she saw him most recently in early July, which is when i reached out to Muni Diaries in hopes of a contact at the SFMTA or SFPD. My friend, who was noticeably weirded out by the whole situation, agreed to speak with Tim Gibson of the Muni Investigations Unit. Officer Gibson filed her original report and then referred her to Detective Jim Serna (sp?) of the SFPD. Detective Serna met personally with my friend that same day and showed her a multi-faced lineup of potential suspects. my friend was easily able to identify the suspect from the pool of photos, and agreed to file a detailed report with the SFPD. she was also able to use her Twitter feed to give exact dates and times she encountered him over the past 2 months to help police identify the suspect via the onboard surveillence on the N.
today she got a call from Detective Serna: they had caught the suspect and were processing him at 850 Bryant for sexual battery. he mentioned that the suspect was under the age of 18, and that he couldn’t comment much beyond that. i later called Officer Gibson of the SFMTA, but he was unavailable to comment on the matter.
Tip of the hat to all the victims and witnesses who helped SFPD get this sorry excuse for a transit-lover off our buses and trains.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program …
Yay!
i’d love to know what kind of case the police have built against this guy. for any victims who’ve yet to come forward, now would be a good time to do that. we’ll try to get and post SFPD contact info, but in the meantime, try to contact Detective Jim Serna. more to come …
Wow, well done SFPD and brave victims. Making Muni safe for the rest of us, thank you very much!
That’s really cool. Twittering becomes a form of record keeping, and in this case, put to good use!
Is this the same Serna that was profiled on sfgate for excessive use of force on civilians?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/24/MNGJSQ0N5Q1.DTL
This is not the same Serna, the officer about is Jim Serna and the officer in your article is a Jesse Serna. I highly doubt that an officer who is assigned detective work will be walking the streets on a regular beat.
I hope other victims contact the SFPD and file a police report. I would like there to be a stronger case built against this guy.
Thanks Plug 1’s Friend for the update. I would think that there is some sort of relationship though.
I think I may have seen the arrest take place.
I woke up late yesterday and got to the stop right as the train was leaving Duboce Park.
Deflated from running for and missing the train I sought some shade and a seat in the shelter.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes later that a young man with cornrows came into the shelter and stood next to me on the bench. A second man came into the shelter and asked the first man’s name. I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary until I noticed that the second man was also holding a badge. That was my cue to get up and walk away. By the time I had walked 10 feet from the shelter there were two undercover police and two uniformed officers arresting the young man. I called my Girlfriend to tell her what had happened. Looks like the call was at 8:47pm.
Could it be that I witnessed the arrest of the MUNI Humper???
@ Bc: sounds like it. reports have the arrest taking place at Duboce and Noe.
Damn. Undercover cop for the Muni humper? Kind of awesome.
Good luck getting a conviction… how easy will it be to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt’ a ‘humping’ charge on MUNI???
When I saw the headline, I imagined someone literally humping Muni buses, like running up behind them and grinding against the rear bumper. I admit I have, at times, found the electric ones particularly scintillating.