San Francisco hate crime suspect faces hearing in Castro assault case
A Castro flower shop vandalism case has put a hate-crime hearing under a neighborhood spotlight, after prosecutors said a parked car, a minor and a resident were all caught in the attack.
Hans Haken returned to San Francisco court for a preliminary hearing on hate-crime charges tied to a May 16 assault and vandalism case in the Castro, where prosecutors allege a street confrontation quickly turned into a threat to a gay-owned business, a neighbor and a child in a parked car.
San Francisco prosecutors charged the 39-year-old on June 18 with assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, interference with another’s civil liberties, vandalism, hit-and-run and reckless driving. The felony assault counts were alleged hate crimes, and the district attorney is seeking to detain Haken without bail pending trial.
The incident began around 5:27 p.m. at Market Street and Church Street, outside Chartreuse by Roje, a floral boutique at 2095 Market Street that is gay-owned. Prosecutors allege Haken spray-painted the message “F***** = GAS CHAMBERS” on the shop’s wall after someone threw eggs at his Cadillac SUV. When a nearby resident tried to intervene and photograph the license plate, prosecutors say Haken yelled at him, pushed him, reversed toward him and onto the curb, then got out and punched him in the jaw before driving off.
Prosecutors allege Haken struck a parked Toyota Prius as he fled eastbound at high speed, rolling the car into a street pole and injuring a minor seated inside.
Chartreuse co-owner Jeffrey Dumlao said the vandalism left him feeling violated. The Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, formed in 2019, aims to preserve and promote the neighborhood’s cultural legacy and create a safe, beautiful, inclusive space. The GLBT Historical Society Museum, in the heart of the Castro, opened in January 2011 and is the first stand-alone museum of LGBTQ history and culture in the United States.
At a June 19 hearing, Haken pleaded not guilty, a witness video was shown and the public defender said the vehicle had been egged and keyed before the confrontation.
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