Authorities have identified the suspect accused of stabbing a good Samaritan following an assault in San Francisco Tuesday.
Police arrested Javon Knighten for attempted homicide and said he has an outstanding arrest warrant in San Francisco for an earlier battery.
Police initially swarmed the area of Mission and Steuart streets early Tuesday afternoon after learning that a 66-year-old Asian woman was assaulted and pushed to the ground. Police said she was not seriously hurt and that initial reports that she was robbed turned out not to be true.
As the assailant ran away, another woman who saw it happen chased after him. Witnesses said the assailant first punched her, and then when she kept following him, stabbed her. The good Samaritan's injuries do not appear to be serious, police said.
Gary, a shop owner, said he tried to stop the good Samaritan from trying to catch the assailant.
"I said something to the woman, 'It’s not worth it whatever you’re doing," Gary said. "Everything was happening fast."
For whatever reason, workers in the area said the assailant looped back and tried to slip past the crime scene but was spotted.
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"I remembered the backpack," Gary said. "He started walking up Spear Street. Then I flagged down an officer in an SUV and I told him, ‘There he is. There's the guy.'"
Police said, at this point, investigators have no evidence that the initial assault was racially motivated, but they are still searching for a motive. A local Asian American group said it is looking into the incident as well.
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