The assailant has been charged with felony assault and battery charges as well as felony elder abuse charges

San Francisco, CA – Today, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that the District Attorney’s Office filed felony charges against an assailant who violently attacked a community leader in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood on Tuesday, August 2, 2022. The 34-year-old man has been charged with felony assault with an enhancement for great bodily injury, felony battery causing serious bodily injury, and felony elder abuse with great bodily injury. The defendant was also charged with a misdemeanor vandalism charge.

“Unprovoked, violent attacks against our AAPI communities must stop,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “These felony charges are the first step in seeking to hold violent offenders accountable and restoring confidence in our criminal justice system for victims of crime.”

Gregory Chew, a former member of the city’s arts, film and immigrants rights commissions was violently attacked in SOMA at 7:30pm on August 2, 2022. Mr. Chew was punched and violently thrown to the ground by an unknown assailant. Mr. Chew suffered a cut to the face, swelling and bruising to the face and a fractured left clavicle. The assailant did not speak during the attack and his motivation was unclear. Derrick Yearby was arrested by the San Francisco Police department on August 7, 2022. The defendant will be arraigned today in San Francisco Superior Court.

In addition to filing felony charges the District Attorney’s Office also filed a motion for detention to keep the defendant in custody while pending trial. The motion to detain was filed because of the violence and seriousness of the charges in this case.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Tip Line at: 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.