Carjacking suspect in lethal Mission crash faced prior carjacking charge (2023)

Carlo Watson, 57, has been charged with murder, carjacking, and a litany of other crimes after crashing an allegedly stolen city truck into four people at 16th and Potrero streets yesterday morning, killing one.

The victim who was fatally struck has not yet been identified, but police said he was a 58-year-old man.

Watson has been arrested for carjacking before. In April, 2021, a warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was booked by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department for carjacking and receiving stolen property. The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about how Watson’s earlier case was handled.

Watson was also booked in February, 2023, for “vandalism above $400.”

On Tuesday, Watson allegedly stole a Municipal Transportation Agency truck from an MTA worker at Folsom and Mabini streets at 10 a.m., following a “physical struggle.” A spokesperson for the agency said that the worker suffered “minor injuries.”

Police were told the truck had been spotted at Kansas and 25th streets in the southeast Mission sometime later that morning, and began a pursuit.

Watson crashed the car at the Potrero and 16th intersection sometime before 10:45 a.m., after a chase that involved police officers and sheriff’s deputies. He crashed into a bus stop in front of the Boston Market on the corner, smashing the pickup truck and the store’s windows. Another vehicle was also smashed in the collision.

Map by Will Jarrett. Basemap from Mapbox.

Four people were struck and injured during the crash. One succumbed to his injuries shortly after being struck by the truck. According to a witness, first responders tried to resuscitate the man for 10 minutes, but were unsuccessful.

The other three victims were a 57-year-old woman, a 70-year-old woman, and a 37-year-old man. They were all taken to hospital by ambulance and were treated for “non-life-threatening” injuries, as was Watson.

Watson was formally booked today. As well as carjacking and murder, Watson has been charged with evading an officer, causing injury; vehicular manslaughter; resisting arrest; and multiple driving violations, including reckless driving, failing to stop at lights, and being an unlicensed driver.

The chase involved sheriff’s deputies, as well as police officers. Although it is unusual for deputies in San Francisco to take part in chases, they are authorized to do so as long as the chase is approved by a supervisor.

Kansas and 25th, where the car was spotted, is near San Francisco General Hospital, where many Sheriff’s Deputies are stationed. The police and sheriffs share multiple radio channels.

The police require chases to be approved of and monitored by a patrol sergeant. Their pursuit policy states that supervisors “shall continually evaluate the need for the pursuit against the risk to safety of persons and property. When the risks appear to be unreasonable, the supervisor shall immediately order the pursuit terminated.”

“It certainly was justified to try to stop this person,” said Barbara Attard, an expert in police oversight, given the seriousness of the suspect’s crime. However, she added, driving at high speed in a busy area in the middle of the morning is inherently “very risky.”

Police did not elaborate on the speed of the pursuit, or details of the crash.