Police Arrest Man in Giants Riot/Muni Vandalism

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Photo by Susana Bates/Special to The Chronicle

The San Francisco Police Department arrested a suspect in the vandalism of a Muni bus near Third and Market Streets Sunday night, photographed by a Chronicle reporter above. The picture was widely circulated online, which led to arrest of Gregory Tyler Graniss, 22, of San Francisco, reports The Chronicle. But the arrest came after some online weirdness that almost pointed the finger at the wrong person.

After things got out of hand Sunday night, including the burning and other forms of destruction of Muni buses, some people started a Facebook campaign to ID the vandals

But Facebook commenters “got the wrong guy” because of a misfired joke. According to a Wired.com story, a San Francisco man named Tony Lukezic used a photo of one of the vandals as his Facebook profile picture because friends say he looked like the vandal. He thought it would all be a funny joke.

What isn’t too funny is that after he changed his Facebook profile picture, Facebook commenters threatened Lukezic, posting his phone number and threatening to turn him in to the cops.

Now that the police has arrested Gregory Tyler Graniss (aka, not the Facebook joker), investigators are still looking for other vandals who set a Muni bus on fire.

A Muni Diaries reader sent us a video of the bus being lit on fire Sunday evening.

According to KTVU, nine people have been charged with crimes related to Sunday night’s vandalism, and 36 people have been arrested.

The Giants post-World Series Win Riot on Muni Diaries:
Photos of Muni buses being trashed by rioters
Man gets beat up trying to “defend Muni” during riot
Video of a bus rider who wouldn’t riot

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Transit Advisory: Wednesday Giants Parade

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Photo by Keoki Seu

The Giants’ second World Series parade in three years starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. Here’s info on the parade from SFMTA:

The parade will begin on Wednesday at 11 a.m. from Market and Steuart streets, travel west on Market Street, turn right onto McAllister Street and proceed west to City Hall.

The parade route will be closed to traffic beginning at approximately 9:30 a.m. until the parade clears and the area has been swept.

…

Fans are strongly encouraged to take public transportation including BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, and ferries to this event as parking and traffic will be extremely difficult. For regional transit information please visit www.511.org. For Muni information please visit www.sfmta.com.

All Muni Metro trains will stop at Civic Center station for the celebration and Parade, as well as at Embarcadero, Montgomery and Powell stations for the parade. The SFMTA will schedule six additional Metro shuttles to supplement the existing Metro service.

The additional service will begin at approximately 10 a.m. and continue until the event clears at the Civic Center.

The following Muni lines and routes will be affected:

· California Cable Car
· Powell Hyde Cable Car
· Powell Mason Cable Car
· F Market and Wharves
· 2 Clement
· 3 Jackson
· 5 Fulton
· 6 Parnassus
· 8X Bayshore Express
· 9 San Bruno
· 9L San Bruno Limited
· 10 Townsend
· 12 Folsom-Pacific
· 14 Mission
· 14L Mission Limited
· 19 Polk
· 21 Hayes
· 27 Bryant
· 30 Stockton
· 31 Balboa
· 38 Geary
· 38L Geary Limited
· 45 Union-Stockton
· 71 Haight-Noriega

Motorists and transit riders should allow extra travel time as delays or detours are expected on Muni routes and lines not listed above.

Category: News

Dear Muni Diaries: There’s this Situation on My Bus

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What do you do when bus riders just can’t stop pinching the flabby adorable cheeks of your driver husband? Such are the problems that Dear Abigail Van Buren received back in 1978. Full disclosure: We adore old Dear Abby advice columns. Here’s her advice.

Dear Abby: My husband is not what you’d call handsome. He’s middle aged, a little on the flabby side, and he’s losing his hair. But he’s a bus driver, and Abby, I don’t think you know how crazy some women are for bus drivers. It must be the uniform, because the women fall all over Bill as if he were a Marine captain or something. Bill says that most of the women on his run are mental cases. They have tried to tip him, give him their phone numbers, and they fight for the seat right behind the driver so they can blow on his neck. One lady even pinched him.

Should I ask Bill to get into some other line of work? Or should I let him stay on that bus with all those crazy women? THE DRIVER’S WIFE

Dear Wife: Men who meet the public (in uniform and out) will be tipped, tempted, and even pinched occasionally. Give him lots of love. And trust. If a man is happy at home, he won’t look left or right.

Hmm … are women mauling your flabby, balding yet freakin’ irresistible bus driver husband? Smother him with love.

This gets me thinking, not about harassing bus drivers, but of all those odd situations that come up when riding public transit. Not sure what to say to that guy taking up two bus seats, the stranger passed out and drooling on your shoulder, or the woman over sharing on her cell phone? What would Dear Abby say about that?

Email us your bus-riding dilemmas. We have more Dear Abby gems for you, and if you send us your own bus dilemma, and we’ll respond with our best etiquette advice. Just don’t ask us which fork to use.

Category: Funny: Muni LOLs

Guy Gets Beat Up Trying to Defend Muni During Riot (update)

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Update (9:24 p.m.): Commenter Rafael elaborated the scene in which Simon (pictured) sustained his injuries:

this bus (on 3rd st @ Market) was eventually lit on fire…but I never saw it because I wanted to get my friend to safety. By the time I met up with Simon around 12:25 (@5-10 minutes after he got sucker punched ). He was bloody and had big knot on his head.

Downtown was a war zone. fires up and down Market. firecrackers everywhere. Anyway, I walked Simon pass the empty Muni. It was still being trashed from the outside. Someone was even throwing a kids bike at the back window trying to break it.
From what I can see…no windows were broken thru yet (time 12:35).

We wish Simon a speedy recovery, and San Francisco a more respectful celebration in the future.

Original post: Trisha sends the photo above of her friend who, in her words, “tried to defend Muni bus last night. Broken nose & teeth, concussion”

I’m still scratching my head over here. And sorry that anyone got hurt in what was supposed to have been a joyous occasion that brings the city together. Here’s hoping that Wednesday’s parade brings out our better angels, or what have you.

Category: News

And now, an adorable puppy on Muni

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We’re starting to accept Life Back to Normal around here. You? And how better to ease back into that (and the always unsettling idea of a baseball offseason) than to see an utterly adorable puppy on Muni? This little lass stole Heather’s heart, and she shared it. “I fell in puppy love last night on muni. Wish I could have taken her home with me.” We sympathize, Heather. We sympathize.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni

Video: Giants Riot on Muni

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Yesenia filmed this video last night of Giants revelers rioting on Muni and sent it to us via the Muni Diaries Facebook page. In the video, rioters started filming a bus rider who didn’t have as much Giants spirit as everyone else. Here’s Yesenia’s account of the evening.

Here’s video I shot on my iPhone of rioting on Muni on McAllister and Larkin. I started filming toward the end, about ten minutes before the cops showed up. There were a few buses stalled there because the streets were overflowing with people. When rioting began on Muni, this particular gentleman on the back of the bus was having none of it. He sat there stonefaced amidst all the chaos, presumably texting to his friends about his miserable experience commuting on Muni yet again. Everyone outside noticed his lack of spirit and started taking pictures and video of him until the lights went out.

Earlier: Photos of buses set on fire, trashed, and climbed on by rioters.

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