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San Francisco Man Captured On Video Assaulting Woman Outside Her Building Ordered To Stay In Jail
The victim later said 25-year-old Austin Vincent told her he was going to save her life and that he was the only human left in a world of robots.
A San Francisco man who was allegedly captured on surveillance footage grabbing, physically assaulting, and pulling a woman to the ground outside her condo building as he tried to gain access to the building has been ordered to stay in jail.
After Judge Ross C. Moody made the decision to hold Austin Vincent, 25, without bail for the attack, Vincent could be heard swearing at the prosecutors and yelling in the hallway after the hearing, KPIX reports.
The surveillance footage captured by the Watermark condo complex shows a man attacking condo resident Paneez Kosarian outside the glass doors of the building around 1:40 a.m. on August 11, according to the SF Gate.
In the video, the man can be seen blocking Kosarian’s entrance to the building. As she grabs the door handle, he grabs her by the leg and starts pulling her toward the street. A building security guard comes to Kosarian’s aid and together they are able to get her inside while the male attacker continues to try to pull the door to gain access.
Kosarian later told local station KRON the man — later identified by police as Vincent — told her he was trying to save her.
“At first, he was trying to tell me that he was trying to save my life,” she said, adding that he told her that everyone else was robots and he was the only human left on earth.
“He asked me to open the door so he could go and kill our concierge or front desk lady and earn my trust,” she said.
Police later found Vincent about a block away from the condo building and arrested him for false imprisonment, battery, and attempted robbery.
Initially, Judge Christine Van Aken decided to release Vincent from jail — sparking outcry from the community. After watching the video footage of the attack, she ordered that Vincent wear an ankle monitor.
But Vincent was taken into custody again after it was believed he was connected to a February assault of several women who were held at knifepoint and threatened as they waited for their ride share, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
However, in Thursday’s hearing Moody dropped the additional charges related to the February assault after Vincent’s attorney was able to prove his client had been at a substance abuse treatment program in Huntington Beach at the time of the assault.
Moody opted not to release him from custody this time, however, citing the “totality of circumstances” in the case that made him question whether Vincent could be counted on to return to court if he was released.
On his way out of the courtroom, Vincent could be heard muttering his objection to the judge’s ruling as well as making comments that seemed to be aimed at the prosecutor. There was also a loud bang heard after he left the courtroom.
The August 11 incident has sparked a debate in the San Francisco community about the city’s homeless population and mental health issues.
