A man was stabbed with a cleaver-style knife on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train in San Francisco. The incident took place on an Antioch-bound Yellow line train and resulted in the arrest of Charles Johnson, a 21-year-old man of San Francisco, at a nearby train station.
The victim was simply running away from Johnson when he was brutally attacked, according to a statement from police. After police say Johnson robbed the victim of his backpack, he was arrested and charged with two crimes and a probation violation at West Oakland Station without incident despite attempting to flee the scene.
Fortunately, the victim survived the attack and was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Mission Local reported that a journalist who witnessed the crime described the victim as in “seemingly good spirits” as he was taken away on a gurney.
BREAKING
San Francisco breathes sigh of relief today that no Marine intervened when a deranged BART passenger slashed a commuter with a cleaver pic.twitter.com/vsnd9iFXgz
— News That Matters (@ThatmattersNews) May 10, 2023
The journalist described the weapon as “a rectangular butcher cleaver” and said Johnson was “pacing up and down” the train car before the attack. Johnson’s alleged attack caused the crowd to panic, fleeing and crowding the opposite end of the train.
“I jumped out of the way once and landed partially on a woman who was sitting,” the journalist told the outlet. “I was just trying to get away.”
In light of this recent attack and other similar incidents, the BART Police Department is making every effort to increase its presence and visibility in the system. By deploying more sworn officers on trains, BPD hopes to deter potential criminals and ensure the safety of passengers.
According to recent statistics, San Francisco saw a significant increase in robbery and car theft in 2020 compared to the previous year.
The Golden Gate City has been a mainstay in national news headlines since the founder of Cash App was found stabbed to death in what was apparently a random attack last month. Video later showed Bob Lee desperately trying to find help before succumbing in his wounds, despite being in a “well-to-do” part of the Democratic stronghold.
Around the same time, Whole Foods closed its flagship store in downtown San Francisco citing the devastating crime and its impact on the store’s bottom line.
Expanding beyond the city center, San Francisco Bay Area – including the metropolitan area around the city itself – may soon lose as many as 24,000 more tech jobs as companies flee high crime, taxes, and housing prices.