Police have arrested a 21-year-old San Francisco woman in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a 30-year-old father in the city’s Bernal Heights neighborhood last weekend.
Perla Rosario Henriquez Ulloa was taken into custody Thursday and booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of felony hit and run, hit and run resulting in death, vehicular manslaughter, destroying or concealing evidence and violating the basic speed law, San Francisco police said Friday night.
The victim has been identified by community members as Binod Budhathoki, the father of an 8-year-old daughter who was returning home from celebrating at a Dashain holiday festival when he was struck.
Budhathoki was crossing Cortland Avenue at Anderson Street around 2:10 a.m. Saturday when he was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene, police said. He was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died.
His death marks the 13th pedestrian fatality of 2025 in San Francisco and occurred along a corridor neighbors say has long faced safety issues.
Originally from western Nepal‘s Rukum district, Budhathoki leaves behind his young daughter. A GoFundMe campaign (opens in new tab) established to help cover funeral expenses and support his family had received contributions from more than 430 donors by Friday night.
The Consulate General of Nepal in San Francisco expressed anguish at the incident. “It’s shocking news for us,” said spokesperson Rishi Acharya. “This is a sad moment.”
The consulate, which recently opened in North Beach, is in contact with the grieving family and awaiting the results of a police investigation, Acharya said.
At an emergency community meeting on Tuesday, Supervisor Jackie Fielder joined frustrated Bernal Heights residents in demanding swift action. “I am devastated for the tragic killing of this 30-year-old father,” Fielder said. “My heart especially breaks for his 8-year-old daughter.”
Fielder noted that she and her predecessor, former Supervisor Hillary Ronen, have urged the city for years to install traffic-calming measures along Cortland Avenue, with limited success. A representative from the Civil Grand Jury told residents that the San Francisco Police Department has deprioritized enforcement of moving violations — a matter of policy focus rather than staffing.
“I will be sending the mayor and MTA a list of solutions outlined by Bernal residents that they should implement in 10-, 30-, 90- and 180-day timelines,” Fielder said.
“This is a tragedy for this community and neighborhood, and for the victim’s family,” Muni spokesperson Erica Kato said Friday, adding that staffers had just repainted crosswalks and crossing messages at the intersection earlier this week.
“People should feel safe walking, biking and cycling, and driving in San Francisco, and every injury, collision, and fatality on our streets is one too many.” Kato called community feedback from Tuesday’s meeting “pivotal to our ongoing work.”
Budhathoki’s death adds to a troubling tally. In 2024, 24 pedestrians were killed in San Francisco, the highest number in 17 years. Among them was 41-year-old Miguel Angel Barrera-Cruz, who was killed by a driver at Mission Street and Cortland Avenue as last year’s 10th fatality.
Both Cortland intersections are on the city’s “high-injury network,” the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur.
“It shouldn’t be life-or-death to cross the street in our city,” Walk SF spokesperson Marta Lindsey said in a statement. “The new Street Safety Act is a blueprint for doing this, but it’s only words on paper unless our leaders deliver on it.”