A former San Francisco official was arrested Wednesday after police said he allegedly tried to rob a man of his potato chips at knifepoint at a food bank.
San Francisco’s former director of public works, 58-year-old Mohammed Nuru, was booked on suspicion of attempted robbery, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“Mohammed Nuru, the former director of Public Works at the center of a federal corruption case, is being investigated for robbery after a report that he brandished a knife at a person Wednesday morning, according to police.”
Via @meganrcassidy https://t.co/K9Zth1h915— Demian Bulwa (@demianbulwa) June 2, 2021
Nuru, a longtime volunteer at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, allegedly approached a man in the facility’s break room while holding a kitchen knife at around 11:15 a.m., according to ABC 7. The individual reported to police that he felt threatened after he was approached by a man who pulled a knife and demanded his property, AP reported.
Statement just released from the @SFPD on today’s arrest of Mohammed Nuru: pic.twitter.com/uvnyEwbFfC
— Heather Knight (@hknightsf) June 3, 2021
The victim described the suspect as “potentially a mentally disturbed person,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The victim added that the suspect “pulled the knife on him for no apparent reason.”
Nuru was booked in the county jail for second-degree robbery, according to the Chronicle.
Keely Hopkins, the food bank’s communications manager, told ABC 7 that the individual in the break room was eating potato chips. Nuru allegedly tried to steal a bag of potato chips, but reportedly said he was joking.
Hopkins reportedly said nobody was injured and that the other volunteers at the food bank were sent home after the incident.
Nuru resigned from his position in 2020 after he was charged with fraud and lying to the FBI, according to AP. He and an alleged co-conspirator, restaurateur Nick Bovis, were indicted on federal corruption charges after the men allegedly schemed to bribe an airport commissioner over prime restaurant space, according to ABC 7.
Bovis pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud and wire fraud charges. Nuru is facing corruption charges and potential prison time.
Roughly a dozen people were charged with corruption following a probe of San Francisco officials, according to the AP. A recycling-plant owner was sentenced to federal prison after she admitted to bribing Nuru with a Rolex watch valued at nearly $37,000.