San Francisco charges Oakland man in Castro hate crime attack

The Castro storefront was still marked by spray paint when neighbors stepped in, turning a vandalism call at Market and Church into a violent scene that prosecutors now describe as a hate crime. San Francisco prosecutors say Hans Haken, a 39-year-old Oakland resident, targeted Chartreuse by Roje with anti-LGBTQ slurs, then assaulted the resident who confronted him before fleeing in a crash that injured a minor.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office charged Haken with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, one count of interference with another’s civil liberties, one count of vandalism, one count of hit and run and one count of reckless driving. Prosecutors said the felony assault counts were hate crimes and that they would seek to hold Haken without bail because of the public-safety risk they say he posed.

Court documents say the attack happened May 16 at about 5:27 p.m. at the corner of Market Street and Church Street in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the city’s best-known LGBTQ+ neighborhoods. The complaint alleges Haken used a spray can to write homophobic slurs on the flower shop’s facade and to paint over the gate camera and intercom. The district attorney’s office said the wall was tagged with “F***** = GAS CHAMBERS.”

When a resident told Haken to stop, prosecutors say Haken yelled at him, pushed him and then reversed a Cadillac SUV toward him and onto the curb, forcing him to jump back. The office says Haken then punched the resident in the jaw before speeding eastbound, striking a parked Toyota Prius hard enough to roll it into a street pole. A minor in that car suffered minor injuries.

The shop is Chartreuse by Roje, and local reporting identified co-owner Jeffrey Dumlao and the resident who intervened as Justin Donnelly. Both said bystanders helped de-escalate the confrontation and quickly identify the suspect. Dumlao and Donnelly also said they were grateful that police and prosecutors were treating the case seriously, a sentiment that echoed through a neighborhood that sees itself as both a symbol and a target.

The episode landed just before Pride season and came as Jenkins’ office announced a second hate-crime case that week involving alleged homophobic conduct, adding to concerns about a recent string of bias-motivated incidents in San Francisco. Jenkins said the city does not stand for hate-motivated violence. The arraignment was scheduled for June 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice, and prosecutors said the case remained under active investigation. Anyone with information was asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department tip line or text TIP411.