Injured bicycle officer a ‘fighter,’ police chief says
The San Francisco police bicycle officer who was run down by a sport utility vehicle driven by a man with a long rap sheet suffered severe injuries and remained in intensive care Thursday, but his family and his colleagues are optimistic he will recover, said Police Chief Bill Scott.
Officer Elia Lewin-Tankel, 32, who according to officials has been recognized repeatedly for outstanding work during his five years on the city force, remained in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery on him after Wednesday’s incident.
“Elia is a fighter in every sense of the word,
and this fight is not over,” Scott said outside the hospital, where Lewin-Tankel’s co-workers at Tenderloin Station had gathered to keep vigil. “His family is very positive. And he’s doing better today than he was yesterday . ... We’re going to be by his side and help him fight through this.”
The chief read a letter from the injured officer’s wife, who wrote, “Elia is a symbol of strength. It’s in his blood. This situation is no different. This is not the end of Elia’s story.”
Lewin-Tankel was on his bicycle when a suspect in a gun-related case ran him down in a stolen Lexus SUV about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday on Turk Street between Franklin Street and Van Ness Avenue, just a few blocks from City Hall, police said.
The suspect, Maurquise Johnson, 50, drove off and abandoned his car about a mile and a half to the east at Central and Fell streets, prompting an hours-long manhunt of surrounding areas, police said. Johnson was taken into custody about 3:30 p.m. on Ellis Street, officials said, before being jailed on suspicion of attempted murder, reckless driving, hitand-run, resisting arrest and driving without a license.
In an interview Thursday from jail, Johnson told KTVU that he and the officer collided as he pulled out of a garage. He said he wasn’t at fault.
Police Department officials did not detail Lewin-Tankel’s injuries. His family released a statement asking “everyone to send good energy and prayers for his recovery, which we know will happen, because Elia is a survivor.”
Lewin-Tankel began his career with the city force in 2012, working at several stations before being permanently assigned to the Tenderloin in March 2016. He asked to be assigned to the station because it is “one of the busiest, most demanding districts, a testament to his dedication to serving the residents of San Francisco,” department officials said in a statement.
The officer, who recently started law school, received the department’s Purple Heart Award in 2015 after he was injured “as a direct result of actions he took to prevent serious injury or loss of life to members of the community,” officials said.
In his free time, Lewin-Tankel teaches jiujitsu to fellow officers in the department and in the community, and volunteers at events in the Tenderloin.
“He’s one of those officers that makes himself known to the community,” said Fernando Pujals, the communications director at the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. “He talks to people, looks them in the eye and treats them with respect. He approaches his job with care, and when you talk to him, you feel that he’s really listening.”
Lewin-Tankel has an extensive knowledge of the neighborhood’s history, Pujals said. He loves jazz and has talked about wanting to put together a throwback event at the Black Hawk jazz club that operated at Turk and Hyde streets in the 1950s, Pujals said.
“A lot of people have been in contact, just asking for updates and asking what’s going on, and you can really see how many people he’s touched,” Pujals said. “It’s a really heavy day in the neighborhood.”
City Supervisor Jane Kim said Lewin-Tankel has been a familiar face at community meetings and on the streets.
“I really have not seen officers and residents so shook up in a while,” she said. “He’s young and he wanted to be in the Tenderloin, and he’s one of the bike patrol and foot beat guys. They’re the front line of the Police Department, and they’re the ones who get to know the residents and the small business owners.”
Lewin-Tankel’s wife is a public school teacher in San Francisco, Kim said.
“This is really hitting two communities very hard,” Kim said. “It’s a public servant family.”
The man suspected of injuring Lewin-Tankel has been in and out of jail in recent years and has a history of reckless driving and trying to evade arrest, court documents show. Johnson has allegedly used several aliases, including Maurice Johnson and Willie Flanagan.
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, Johnson was convicted in that county of misdemeanor petty theft in 1993 and of giving false information to an officer in 2013. Also in 2013, San Francisco prosecutors charged Johnson with robbery, receiving a stolen car, grand theft and evading an officer. He was convicted of grand theft.
The next year, he was charged in San Francisco with drug possession, driving without a license, disturbing the peace and providing false information to an officer. After pleading guilty to disturbing the peace, he was sentenced to 16 days in county jail.
A few months later, Johnson was arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of buying or receiving stolen property and providing false information to an officer. The next year, he was arrested in the city on suspicion of recklessly evading police and leaving the scene of an accident.
In June 2016, he was sentenced to state prison for two years for stealing a car and evading police in San Mateo County. Johnson was released after a few months because he had already served much of his time before sentencing. In February, he pleaded no contest in San Francisco to drug dealing, records show, and was sentenced to 67 days in jail.
The city district attorney’s office accused Johnson of a slate of charges Thursday including attempted murder of a police officer, battery, assault, evading arrest and reckless endangerment. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
Scott said the department had pulled together to support Lewin-Tankel. On Thursday, much of Tenderloin Station was staffed by officers from other stations, allowing the Tenderloin officers to be at the hospital.
“This is what we do, and we understand this is a part of the job,” Scott said. “We accept that. But it also gives us the opportunity to show what we’re made of.”