A man facing charges for the robbery of a man’s recyclables
in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood – an incident that was captured on
camera – made his initial court appearance Tuesday.
Jonathan Amerson, 56, is being charged with robbery and
elderly abuse in connection with the robbery of a 68-year-old man on Feb. 22 at
a San Francisco Housing Authority complex on Osceola Lane.
Amerson pleaded not guilty to his charges and is scheduled
to return to court on March 13. He remains in custody and is being held in lieu
of $75,000 bail, according to jail records. He surrendered himself to police on
Sunday, police said.
In addition to the Feb. 22 incident, police said Amerson
allegedly robbed the same victim of his recycling materials two months ago in
the same area.
In the video, which was widely shared on social media,
suspects appear to rob the victim, who is Asian, of a cart of recyclables.
During the alleged robbery, several bystanders appear to film and taunt the
victim, and at least one person can be heard saying, “I hate Asians.”
Although the victim was struck in the head during the
alleged robbery, police said he was not hospitalized.
Last week, police announced they arrested a different
suspect in the case identified as 20-year-old Dewayne Grayson. Grayson
allegedly filmed the incident and uploaded it to social media, police said.
According to the District Attorney’s Office spokesman Alex Bastian,
Grayson is not being charged for now and will instead be placed in a restorative
justice program, at the victim’s request.
“We’ve been in conversation with victim who expressed a
restorative justice outcome, especially for the young person who videoed the incident,”
Bastian said. “We respect our victim and their desires and are exploring a
restorative justice outcome for this case, however, if that does not work out,
we do have the option to bring this case to the courtroom.”
In a statement, Grayson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Danielle
Harris, said Grayson appeared to be pleased with the decision.
“Dewayne Grayson is 20 years old and an alumnus of SF’s
public schools. Dewayne is growing everyday and learning from his mistakes.
Dewayne does not know any of the other persons involved in the events that
bring him into this spotlight and has no ill feelings toward any of them. He is
excited to take part in this restorative justice program, particularly with
others who live and/or work in the Bayview-Hunters Point community he calls
home,” she said.
Amerson’s attorney, Alexandria Carl, was not immediately
available for comment.
Source: NBC Bay Area
Be First to Comment