SAN FRANCISCO — During a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, July 23, 2025, in San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Thomas M. Anderson presided over a case involving a man accused of breaking the lock on an unoccupied, vacant home, leading to two charges including Penal Code section 594(b)(1), a felony charge related to vandalism, and Penal Code section 494(b)(1), a second misdemeanor count stemming from the same incident.
Deputy Public Defender Maria Avalos Cruz filed a PC §17(b) motion for the felony charge, as it was a “wobbler” offense, meaning that it could be classified as either a felony or reduced to a misdemeanor by the judge’s discretion.
She further stated that the accused did not take anything from the property, simply went up to the unoccupied residence, broke the lock, and went back into his car…