Witnesses watch SF police car crush Chihuahua

Investigations are ongoing after witnesses say they watched an SFPD cruiser run over and kill a chihuahua in the Richmond District.

RichmondSFBlog reported that witnesses saw the dog, Marla, escape from its collar near Cinderella Bakery & Café before running into the intersection at 6th and Balboa and getting struck by a police car.

Casey Massam, who was caring for the dog, went into the cafe to get something and left the 8-year-old chihuahua unattended outside, according to RichmondSFBlog.

Witness Erin Steffen was having lunch when she saw the events unfold:

“It was a police car and the driver did not stop … There were no lights or sirens.”

Massam spoke with the RichmondSFBlog again on Wednesday and said the owner, Hannah Kenney was still upset and “taking this really hard. The dog meant everything to her.”

Kenney vented in a phone interview to KPIX-TV, saying:

“I blame both police, because they didn’t stop. At least they could have shown their condolences and then I blame my boyfriend.”

In an interview with KPIX-TV, SFPD Captain Simon Silverman iterated that there were no leads as to who the hit-and-run driver was and stated:

“Nobody that was working at that time is aware of having run over a dog.”

Residents of the Richmond posted a memorial on a pole at the intersection of 6th and Balboa. There were flowers attached to a handmade sign that read “Police SFPD Please Slow Down!!! Don’t Kill Another Puppy.” Kenney told KPIX-TV:

“That was really nice that somebody did that.”