| Man slain in mistaken identity Neighbor thought he was rape suspect Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer |
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Tuesday, July 16, 2002  |
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San Francisco -- A San Francisco man shot and killed a neighbor he thought was armed and may have been involved in a string of home-invasion rapes in and around the Sunnydale housing projects, police said Monday. Andre Banks, 32, was gunned down at 1:55 a.m. Saturday in a confrontation with Faatupu "Frank" Fua, 34, as Banks walked home in the projects. Fua surrendered Monday night on murder charges, and authorities are investigating whether other men were involved. Fua told investigators he thought Banks had a gun and said he had opened fire in self defense, said Lt. Judie Pursell of the homicide detail. The neighborhood, whose residents are largely African American and Pacific Islanders, has been on edge since a series of home-invasion robberies and rapes. Investigators believe that Fua thought Banks was involved in a break-in attempt that night as well as the earlier crimes, said Lt. Judie Pursell of the homicide detail. Fua was among a group of men who had gone to a relative's home after a reported break-in attempt minutes earlier, police said. Officers summoned to that crime scene heard gunfire and found Banks on a nearby street. The first home-invasion occurred July 2, when a family in the Sunnydale projects was bound and a woman was raped. The second was just outside the projects, where a mother and daughter were raped on July 8. The next day, police arrested one suspect, Steven Glass, a 23-year-old resident of the projects, on several charges, including rape. Police are still looking for two other men involved in the attacks. Pursell said that although Fua told investigators that he thought Banks was armed, Banks did not have a gun when he was shot, near an apartment in the 100 block of Brookdale Avenue. Fua "was very forthcoming with us and surrendered peacefully," Pursell said. Police say Banks apparently was not involved in any of the earlier crimes. "He hasn't shown up in any of our investigations," said Lt. Jere Williams of the sexual assault detail. Capt. Kevin Dillon of the Ingleside Station said he had ordered increased patrols in the area. "The area has been tense" since the rapes, Dillon said. "Certainly, this doesn't help things. But we are reaching out to people, to keep them updated and give them a sense of what is going on." E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com. |
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