Second suspect in Bayview attack on elderly man turns himself in

A second suspect wanted in connection with the Feb. 22 robbery of an elderly man of his recycled materials was arrested Sunday morning after turning himself into police, San Francisco police said.

Jonathan Amerson, 56, of San Francisco surrendered himself at the Bayview police station at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday, and was booked on suspicion of two counts of robbery and two counts of elder abuse.

Amerson’s charges take into account not only the Feb. 22 incident, a video of which has gone viral, but also of an incident about two months ago in which Amerson allegedly robbed the same victim of his recycling materials in the same area.

Sunday’s arrest follows the arrest Thursday of 20-year-old Dewayne Grayson on suspicion of robbery, hate crime, elder abuse and probation violation in connection with the robbery, which happened Feb. 22 at a San Francisco Housing Authority complex on Osceola Lane in the Bayview District.

Grayson is allegedly the person who filmed the incident and uploaded it to social media. In the video, suspects appear to rob an elderly Asian man of a cart of recyclables he had collected from the area. 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.”

Police described the victim as a 68-year-old man. Although he complained of pain from being struck on the back of the head, he had no visible injuries, police said.

In response to the robbery, Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton, whose supervisorial district includes the Bayview, held a “Community Unity and Healing Rally” at the complex where the alleged offense occurred.

The case remains under investigation, police said. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the SFPD 24-hour tip line at 1-415- 575-4444. Language access services are available through this phone number. You may also Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. Callers may remain anonymous.