Two women have been charged for allegedly fleeing from police over the weekend, resulting in a crash in San Francisco’s Mission District that sent six people to the hospital, prosecutors said.
Just after 3 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, officers began pursuing a vehicle that apparently did not yield to an attempted traffic stop near the Stonestown Galleria shopping center. The vehicle was reported stolen out of Richmond, San Francisco police said.
The pursuit lasted several miles and the driver allegedly weaved in and out of traffic, traveled at a high speed, drove onto Muni train tracks and a sidewalk, drove on the opposite side of 24th Street, then crashed into a traffic light and struck multiple vehicles, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
The pursuit ended with the car crashing into a busy outdoor parklet of the Irish bar Napper Tandy at the corner of 24th Street and South Van Ness Avenue, leaving six people injured, according to police.
“I saw footage of the crash into the parklet myself and it was horrifying,” Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission District, said in a social media post. “It is a miracle no one died.”
The apparent driver, 27-year-old Taylor Ross, has been charged with a slew of felonies and misdemeanors: seven counts of evading an officer causing injury or death, one count of evading by driving opposite of traffic, one count of reckless driving, one count of vehicle theft, one count of receiving stolen property, seven counts of hit-and-run causing injury, three counts of hit-and-run resulting in property damage, and three counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
Eureeka Abrams, 29, the alleged passenger, has been charged with two counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
“What should have been a routine felony vehicle stop escalated into Ms. Ross and Ms. Abrams putting innocent lives at risk due to their actions,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a press release.
The car chase has also prompted scrutiny of SFPD’s updated policy that grants officers greater leeway to conduct vehicle pursuits.
“The public deserves answers into how this decision was made by SFPD and what accountability mechanisms are in place when innocent bystanders are injured or killed and small businesses extensively damaged.”
Supervisor Jackie Fielder
Proposition E, which was spearheaded by former Mayor London Breed and passed by voters in March 2024, loosened the criteria required for police to go on car chases.
Police are now allowed to pursue a vehicle if the driver or passengers are suspected of felonies and violent misdemeanors including retail theft, vehicle theft, and car burglaries as long as the pursuit can be done safely.
The previous policy prohibited police from chasing people suspected of non-violent felonies and misdemeanors.
“It is a well-known fact that police chases are extremely dangerous,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in a statement. “This is a major reason why so many cities have moved to limit police car chases and why I believe San Francisco should do the same.”
Fielder has submitted a Letter of Inquiry to uncover the decision-making that led officers to conduct the pursuit.
“The public deserves answers into how this decision was made by SFPD and what accountability mechanisms are in place when innocent bystanders are injured or killed and small businesses extensively damaged,” Fielder wrote in a statement.
The suspects, Ross and Abrams, are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice.
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