Louisiana tourist killed in S.F. robbery setup
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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Michael Bailey, 26, a married father of two and a senior in electrical engineering at Southern University at Baton Rouge, was with two friends from Louisiana and an Oakland acquaintance when they met the woman at City Nights at Third and Harrison streets Saturday night, police said.
The men agreed to drive the woman home after the club closed early Sunday. She directed the out-of-towners to Double Rock Street in the Alice Griffith public housing project, located in Hunters Point just north of Candlestick Park.
When they arrived shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, robbers were waiting, police said.
"Somebody walked up to the car and there was a verbal interaction," said Sgt. Lyn Tomioka, a spokeswoman for the Police Department. "Everyone was told to get out of the car. Then others came up and started going through their pockets."
There was another verbal exchange, police said, which ended with one of the assailants shooting Bailey.
The mortally wounded Bailey was put in the car. "They somehow got to Third Street and flagged down an officer," Tomioka said.
Bailey was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital.
Police arrested the woman they believe set up the friends for the robbery but have not identified her. They are still looking for the gunman and the others involved in the attack.
Bailey and his friends "thought they were doing the right thing," said police Lt. Mike Stasko of the homicide detail, "and they ended up getting set up."
Police Chief George Gascón said, "It doesn't appear (the victims) had any criminal involvement. They were people who came up here visiting and having a good time and unfortunately, this very tragic event occurred."
Bailey was in his last semester at Southern, said the chairman of the electrical engineering department, Pradeep Bhattacharya. He had been a peer counselor at the school.
"He was a good student - he wanted to continue with university work," Bhattacharya said.
As a research project, Bailey was designing an anti-theft system for cars in which hidden sensors could detect intruders.
"You could see who was doing what from your home or from outside," Bhattacharya said.
He said that Bailey's mother was retired from the local power company and that his father was a career member of the military. Bailey married an engineering student who graduated recently.
Gascón said San Francisco investigators had promising leads and hoped to make more arrests.
He stressed that the city's homicide total this year is about half what it was at this time in 2008, and that San Francisco is a "very safe" place.
"I want to reassure the community - we are following many leads aggressively," Gascón said. "This is one that we believe we have some places to go in the way of leads."
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at [email protected].
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/06/BAB81A1E82.DTL#ixzz0TANEXrNQ
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Bailey, 26, a married father of two and a senior in electrical engineering at Southern University at Baton Rouge, was with two friends from Louisiana and an Oakland acquaintance when they met the woman at City Nights at Third and Harrison streets Saturday night, police said.
The men agreed to drive the woman home after the club closed early Sunday. She directed the out-of-towners to Double Rock Street in the Alice Griffith public housing project, located in Hunters Point just north of Candlestick Park.
When they arrived shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, robbers were waiting, police said.
"Somebody walked up to the car and there was a verbal interaction," said Sgt. Lyn Tomioka, a spokeswoman for the Police Department. "Everyone was told to get out of the car. Then others came up and started going through their pockets."
There was another verbal exchange, police said, which ended with one of the assailants shooting Bailey.
The mortally wounded Bailey was put in the car. "They somehow got to Third Street and flagged down an officer," Tomioka said.
Bailey was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital.
Police arrested the woman they believe set up the friends for the robbery but have not identified her. They are still looking for the gunman and the others involved in the attack.
Bailey and his friends "thought they were doing the right thing," said police Lt. Mike Stasko of the homicide detail, "and they ended up getting set up."
Police Chief George Gascón said, "It doesn't appear (the victims) had any criminal involvement. They were people who came up here visiting and having a good time and unfortunately, this very tragic event occurred."
Bailey was in his last semester at Southern, said the chairman of the electrical engineering department, Pradeep Bhattacharya. He had been a peer counselor at the school.
"He was a good student - he wanted to continue with university work," Bhattacharya said.
As a research project, Bailey was designing an anti-theft system for cars in which hidden sensors could detect intruders.
"You could see who was doing what from your home or from outside," Bhattacharya said.
He said that Bailey's mother was retired from the local power company and that his father was a career member of the military. Bailey married an engineering student who graduated recently.
Gascón said San Francisco investigators had promising leads and hoped to make more arrests.
He stressed that the city's homicide total this year is about half what it was at this time in 2008, and that San Francisco is a "very safe" place.
"I want to reassure the community - we are following many leads aggressively," Gascón said. "This is one that we believe we have some places to go in the way of leads."
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at [email protected].
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/06/BAB81A1E82.DTL#ixzz0TANEXrNQ
