Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s new chief of public safety, Paul Yep, was a rising star in the San Francisco Police Department in 2017 after becoming captain of Central Station, overseeing Chinatown and downtown.
But in December 2018, Yep was abruptly reassigned from the prominent position to an internal police headquarters job.
Yep was a popular captain, and the shift caused an uproar in the Chinese community. Even then-Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer rallied in support of him.
However, the timing of Yep’s reassignment may not have been a coincidence, The Standard has learned. Just three months earlier, he was accused in a civil lawsuit of driving under the influence in a city-owned vehicle, rear-ending a car in Burlingame, then attempting to intimidate the other motorist.
Police records show that Yep, a San Mateo resident, was driving eastbound on Trousdale Drive on Nov. 12, 2016, when another vehicle stopped 100 feet ahead of him. He attempted to stop but rear-ended it.
According to a lawsuit filed by Timothy Hansen, the other driver, Yep was “evasive” when confronted about the collision.
Hansen said in the suit that when he asked Yep for identification, the police captain replied, “Don’t worry about that,” adding, “When my people get here, you’ll get what you need.” Hansen said Yep then told him, “You know I’m a police officer, right?”
In a deposition, Hansen testified that Yep smelled of alcohol at the time of the collision. In his own deposition, Yep denied drinking alcohol that night. Yep was not cited, arrested, or prosecuted for drunk driving related to the incident.
Hansen also alleged in the complaint that Yep drove past his house after the incident and “stared” at him “in a menacing fashion.”
Hansen’s suit, initially filed in San Mateo County but later transferred to San Francisco, cited physical and emotional harm.
The civil case resulted in a settlement in 2020. A source with knowledge of the situation said Yep’s mysterious reassignment in 2018 was related to the collision in Burlingame.
In an official response to Chinese media in 2018, the department said Yep’s job change was a “periodical rotation among district captains and command staff positions,” with the goal of giving them more comprehensive and diverse experience.
In a statement, Police Chief Bill Scott denied that Yep was reassigned for disciplinary reasons: “Retired commander Paul Yep served our department honorably and with distinction,” he said. “Seeing this attempt to smear his reputation with unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo is frankly pathetic.”
Max Carter-Oberstone, who serves on the city’s police commission, said the civil complaint should raise alarm bells.
“The complaint — which alleges that Paul misused his powers as a police officer to intimidate the victims of his own crimes — raises serious questions about whether he is fit to serve the public in any capacity,” Carter-Oberstone said in a statement to The Standard.
Yep stated in the November 2016 police report that neither party was injured and both vehicles sustained “minor” damage. The report states that Yep admitted to causing the collision by driving at an unsafe speed.
Hansen did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney who represented Hansen declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. Lurie’s transition team spokesperson, Max Szabo, told The Standard, “We have nothing to add. The court records speak for themselves.”
Yep chose to early retire from the SFPD in 2023. Wind Newspaper cited sources claiming he had been bypassed for a promotion.
Josh Koehn and Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez contributed to this report.