A federal court on Thursday granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by teenagers who say they were unlawfully arrested during the chaotic 2023 hill bomb at Dolores Park, paving the way for more than 100 others to potentially join the case against the city and county.
San Francisco, CA
Ruling advances lawsuit against S.F. over arrests during 2023 Dolores Park hill bomb
Skateboarders ride down Church Street at the annual hill bomb event at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Saturday, July 6, 2024.
The ruling allows approximately 113 people — including 81 minors — who were arrested on 17th Street on July 8, 2023, to join the lawsuit first filed by four teenagers in December 2023. The mass arrests concluded a night of general mayhem, marked by fireworks that sparked fires, vandalization of Muni vehicles and confiscation of several firearms around Dolores Park, according to police.
Within the chaos, innocent teenagers were swept up in detentions, the lawsuit argues. Rachel Lederman, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, called the mass arrest of children and youth an “outrageous round-up” where police arrested young adults without probable cause.
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“Then, the police held the children and youth outdoors and in vehicles for many hours as darkness fell and the night turned cold and windy,” she said in a statement. “SFPD did not provide them access to a bathroom for up to seven hours forcing desperate children to use a bucket in the street handed out by a neighbor.”
Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the city attorney, defended police, saying Friday that officers exercised appropriate crowd control to protect public safety. The city is looking forward to presenting its case in the coming months, she said.
The ruling was first reported by Mission Local.
Over at least the past decade, the informal competition has often sparked conflict with police. The hill bomb has gained notoriety in recent years after the event led to a death, a traumatic head injury and multiple skirmishes with the police. After 2023’s confrontations and arrests, the hill bomb was relatively calm in 2024 as police barricaded Dolores Street but skateboarders bombed down a different one.
This year, the event did not take place, and was instead replaced by a more formal, structured hill bomb at Twin Peaks, a largely peaceful affair.
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Two Muni trains were vandalized during the Dolores Hill Bomb in 2023.
Police were made aware of the 2023 hill bomb three weeks before the event took place, according to the lawsuit. The city sent additional officers to the area and erected barricades on the steepest part of the hill on Dolores Street. The crowd grew to approximately 200 people that night.
Police said that around 7 p.m., a 16-year-old man spat in a sergeant’s face. Police said the officer was assaulted while trying to detain the teenager and suffered lacerations to his face. Police said that during the arrest, the crowd began to throw ignited fireworks, smoke bombs, glass bottles, and metal cans at officers.
Two Muni light-rail vehicles were vandalized with graffiti, and the crowds refused to disperse and began removing barricades police had placed in the area, police said.
Around 8 p.m., after declaring the crowds an unlawful assembly, officers began making mass arrests. Plaintiffs argue they were trying to leave the area when police began corralling them for detention.
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One 15-year-old said in the lawsuit that she was trying to ride a scooter to a friend’s house and was still detained after telling officers she had nothing to do with the hill bomb.
The lawsuit alleges officers gave little information to parents who arrived to pick up their kids. Parents waited on the street for hours, and the last child was released from the Mission Police Station at 4:15 a.m., the lawsuit alleges.
The teens were cited and released for inciting a riot, remaining present at an unlawful assembly and conspiracy, police said.
Police said one minor was sent to the hospital to be treated for intoxication but “there was no other report of injury from the arrests.”
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“This dangerous and unlawful behavior put members of the public and our officers at risk of serious injury or worse,” then-police chief Bill Scott said in a statement at the time. “This behavior will not be tolerated in our city.”
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
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