San Francisco police reopen 2023 case of woman pushed to her death after recent assault
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police have reopened a case from 2023 in which a woman died after being pushed to the ground.
Authorities are revisiting the case after the person initially suspected in that fatal incident was arrested last week for assaulting a 71-year-old Chinese woman in a separate case.
Police arrested 43-year-old Thea Hopkins in the recent assault and are investigating whether she was involved in the July 2023 death of Yanfang Wu, who was pushed to the ground in the Bayview District and later died.
"The SFPD is reexamining the evidence in the July 3 case on 3rd Street and Egbert Ave after receiving new evidence. We are not disclosing what the evidence is," said the police department.
Hopkins' defense attorney in the recent assault case stated she has not seen any evidence connected to the 2023 death but underlined the need to treat them as distinct incidents.
"There's nothing about these new allegations and charges that change the fact that the district attorney and police deemed the 2023 incident as an accident," said Kathleen Natividad from the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.
Civil rights attorney and spokesperson for the Asian Justice Movement, Charles Jung, said that the community lost faith in the police following last year's case. The group said that the incident was captured on camera and is requesting the release of the video.
"The SFPD does not release evidence – video or otherwise – in open cases because it could jeopardize the investigation," the police department said.
Jung is urging police to investigate the two cases as part of a pattern of behavior and to explore whether these incidents could be categorized as possible hate crimes.
"Here the suspect reportedly pushed or attacked two elderly Asian women within blocks of one another," said Jung.
Hopkins remains in custody for the assault last week.
Authorities have not indicated whether Hopkins could face charges in the July incident.