San Francisco police ask public for help in locating hate crime suspect – NBC Bay Area

San Francisco police are asking for the public's help in locating a woman who may be responsible for a hate crime near an Alamo Square home that was later set on fire. There's another twist to the story: Police say the suspect was reported missing by her family just over two weeks ago.

Terry Williams is trying to make sense of the latest twist in a case that began in April, when he says someone left disturbing packages outside his home that contained threats and racial slurs.

“I still can't get over why you would want to do something like that,” Williams said. “I could never imagine doing something like that.”

The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and police have now identified a 67-year-old woman as a suspect. Her name is April Martin Chartrand and in addition to being named as a suspect, police say she is also missing. Her family filed a missing person report on August 23.

Williams says he didn't recognize the woman's name, but then he saw the photos.

“I knew who she was right away,” Williams said. “I had seen her around the neighborhood for years, so I would walk by her house all the time. When I had clients who lived on that block, I would walk by her house.”

Williams is a well-known dog owner in the area and says they had an encounter a few years ago near a tree where a lot of dogs were hanging out.

“She was breaking plates in front of her house and leaving the sharp parts of the plates around the tree where the dogs pee,” Williams said. “I thought, why do you do that? Dogs can get hurt doing that. So I took a picture of her and the result was that she had to take everything down.”

He believes she put the broken plates out to keep dogs away from the tree. He says he tried to talk to her afterward, but he felt she wanted nothing to do with him. He says when he learned she was the prime suspect, he had even more questions.

“I still can't believe a black man did this, like it was a dream or something. All the time they portray a crime and try to make it out to be a hate crime against people of another race,” Williams said.

In the days following these threats, a fire broke out in his house. Investigators in San Francisco are still looking into the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, police are asking the public for help in locating Chartrand. Anyone who sees her should call 9-1-1.