A man who was detained by the BART Police Department for riding a train without paying was jailed Sunday after being arrested as a suspect in a fatal stabbing earlier this month at the Embarcadero.
Jonathon Wright, 36, was not in possession of valid fare when he was taken into custody at 12:54 a.m. Sunday at the Bay Fair station in San Leandro, BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told The Standard by email Monday.
In video posted to X by a KTVU reporter, BART officers can be seen aboard a train detaining Wright, who demands to know why he is being stopped before complaining about his hands being cuffed.
The San Francisco Police Department confirmed Monday that Wright is a suspect in the Nov. 13 stabbing outside the Embarcadero station. The SFPD said its officers met with BART Police and took custody of Wright on Sunday at 3 a.m. at San Francisco General Hospital. He was then transported to a county jail. It is not known why he was at the hospital.
San Francisco Sheriff’s Department records show Wright was booked into jail without bail at 8:11 a.m. Sunday on suspicion of murder.
On the morning of Nov. 13, officers responded to Market and Main streets — steps from the Embarcadero BART station — after receiving reports of a person bleeding, police said.
The officers found an injured man. Despite lifesaving efforts by emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The city’s Office of the Medical Examiner has not identified the victim.
BART Police scanner audio reviewed by The Standard said cops were searching for a tall Black male carrying a briefcase.
According to BART Police logs, Wright was previously arrested in October 2023 at the West Dublin/Pleasanton station for disobeying a court order and a month later at Oakland’s Lake Merritt station for eight active warrants. In each prior arrest, Wright did not have valid fare.