Muni rejects reward posters in unsolved murder case
May 22, 2009
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Answers: Mayor Gavin Newsom, right, told Paulette Brown, left, in March that posters were being created to publicize rewards for unsolved murders, but it never happened.
(EXaminer file photo)
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SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of reward posters could help bring a killer to justice, but the police union’s request to post them on Muni buses and streetcars has hit a roadblock.
Mayor Gavin Newsom said in March that he was creating posters that would publicize $250,000 rewards for several unsolved homicide cases after the vocal mother, Paulette Brown, of a murdered son met with Newsom.
Members of the Police Officers Association, however, said they had heard enough talk and made their own posters — 800 of them for a grand total of about $1,000.
The posters were cut to fit snugly along the ad space on bus and streetcar walls. Kevin Martin, vice president of the police union, said they were made especially for Muni because it would be a great way to get the word out.
But when the posters showed up at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, they were rejected. The union apparently did not ask anyone before making the ads, which is normally how the agency accepts public service announcements.
“Where were you when I was murdered?” the poster reads. “It takes guts and courage to stop those who killed Aubrey Abrakasa Jr. How many more must die before those who know end their silence?”
Abrakasa, a 17-year-old high school senior who had never been in trouble with the law and worked at a Bernal Heights recreation center, was killed by one or two people with an automatic weapon in the North Panhandle neighborhood, where he grew up.
Newsom said police and the District Attorney’s Office know who killed the boy, but witnesses won’t come forward for the prosecution. The union had hoped witnesses would see the poster, and the large reward, and come forward.
“We’re trying to do the right thing and we’re prevented from doing it,” Martin said.
Muni, however, is not rejecting the idea, according to spokesman Judson True. There’s just a process in which the transit agency accommodates requests when possible. Now, the ads may actually end up where they were intended.
“Our marketing staff will be talking with the POA about moving forward with public-service ads related to this tragedy,” True said.
bbegin@sfexaminer.com
