A murder suspect who allegedly stabbed his own mother to death in her San Francisco home last week had beaten and seriously injured a gas station attendant just five days prior, prosecutors and the victim of the attack said.
Marceleno Wilson, 46, is charged with felony assault and second-degree commercial burglary in connection with the March 8 attack at the Shell station on Mission Street, just west of Bernal Heights, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced the charges Wednesday alongside charges linked to the March 13 killing on Appleton Avenue in Holly Park.
The Shell worker, Orlando Umanzor Rodriguez, 53, said he had just started drinking his morning coffee when a man entered around 6:45 a.m. and tried to buy $50 worth of gas with an EBT card, which was declined twice.
The man left, then came back moments later, got behind the cash register through a door that employees had left open while working and started to punch Umanzor without provocation, he said.
“He walked through and didn’t say anything,” Umanzor told The Standard in Spanish. “I blocked my face, but he hit me with fury—I didn’t know if he wasn’t all the way there or if he was on drugs.”
Umanzor fell back and hit his head on a counter behind the cash register, he said, and suffered a bloody gash between his eyes that required stitches.
After a coworker pressed the silent alarm to notify authorities, the man fled, Umanzor said. The San Francisco Police Department confirmed the incident and said the suspect had already left the scene when they arrived at around 7:11 a.m.
The attack was captured on the store’s surveillance video, but Umanzor said he hadn’t watched it because coworkers warned him the footage was too violent. The Standard showed Umanzor photos and videos from a Facebook page belonging to Wilson, and Umanzor identified him as the attacker.
‘I’m scared when I come to work’
Umanzor was taken to a local hospital, where he said he was treated for about four hours before being released. He returned to work this week, he said.
“I came back to work on Tuesday, and they had just removed my stitches on the same day,” he said, adding that he has been on edge since the attack. “I’m still feeling bad. I get dizziness and headaches, and it feels like my head is spinning. I’m scared when I come to work.”
Umanzor said he wasn’t aware that Wilson was also charged with murder until he spoke with The Standard.
However, he said DA’s Office victim services workers recently told Umanzor about Wilson’s arrest for the assault, which made him feel better about returning to work, he said.
According to Umanzor, Wilson had visited the gas station multiple times and even tried to apply to work there in late December, but his application was rejected.
“Another time, some weeks ago, he came with a dog and asked workers to take a picture of him with the dog,” Umanzor said. “One worker did but never sent it to him. After the attack, [the worker] recovered the deleted picture because we recognized him.”
Umanzor added that he has an appointment on Friday with investigators, who told him he might need to identify Wilson as his attacker.
Five days after the gas station attack and less than a quarter-mile away, police found a woman dead of apparent stab wounds after a report of a possible burglary on Appleton Avenue, the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Wednesday. She was identified in the criminal complaint only as Rita W., 66.
Residents of the Holly Courts housing complex where Rita was killed told The Standard that the woman often got into arguments with her son, who had apparently kicked the door in before, and that they had seen cops in front of the building at least three times in the last month. They identified Wilson as her son, both from photos on social media and the one taken by the gas station employee.
Wilson was identified as the suspect in the killing, and within hours, officers found him driving in the Ingleside neighborhood and tried to conduct a traffic stop, prosecutors said. He led police on a chase to Oakland, where he was taken into custody.
“Although there is nothing we can do to bring her back, we will do everything we can to ensure there is accountability and justice,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Wednesday.
Wilson is charged with murder, elder abuse, first-degree residential burglary and evading an officer in connection with the March 13 killing and pursuit, in addition to the assault and burglary charges linked to the March 8 attack. He was arraigned Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Wilson has served time in prison or county jail before in Sacramento and San Mateo counties, according to public records. His criminal record led prosecutors to file aggravating circumstances with the murder charge.
Wilson remains in jail without bail. His next court date is scheduled for April 16.