A San Francisco transient caught on security video attacking a woman outside her condominium lobby nine days ago was back in court Tuesday facing new charges, and this time, he will remain in jail.
Austin Vincent, 25, pleaded not guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. The charges stem from a February incident where four people said a man threatened them with a knife before they jumped into a waiting rideshare car and escaped.
One of the victims saw the chilling surveillance video from the latest incident Aug. 12 and recognized Vincent’s mug shot. In that attack, the video shows Paneez Kosarian being assaulted as she tries to enter the Watermark building on Beale Street.
New charges were filed, and on Monday, Vincent turned himself in after previously being released from custody because Judge Christine Van Aken said he had a nonviolent criminal history.
On Tuesday, Van Aken agreed with prosecutors who said he is a threat and should stay in jail.
"There’s a balance that’s done, and we believe that balance definitely merits keeping the defendant in to advance public safety," said Alex Bastian of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Deputy public defender Saleem Belbahri disagreed.
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"He was getting the help he needed," Belbahri said of Vincent. "He was having the root cause of some of those issues addressed, and now he’s in jail and is not going to get help with those."
The DA's office confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating more complaints filed against Vincent but said the accusations have not yet been substantiated and declined to give more details.
