Charges dropped in San Francisco tech office mayhem case

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A homeless man who was accused of trying to kill a security guard at a San Francisco tech office will not stand trial.

Prosecutors dropped all charges, including attempted murder and mayhem, against defendant Bradford Lasalle, his defense attorneys announced Thursday.

Lasalle was locked up the last three months in jail. If convicted at trial, he could have spent the rest of his life in prison, attorneys said.

The security guard worked at Okta, a tech company headquartered on First Street, during the November 2024 incident, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said.

Defense attorneys said the security guard “challenged” Lasalle to a fight while the guard was drunk. According to attorneys, the guard had been drinking at Okta because the company provided alcohol for employees on-site, and the guard was allowed to drink on duty.

After the fight, San Francisco Police Department officers arrived on the scene and found both men suffering from knife wounds, attorneys said. The security guard told officers that he was related to two former SFPD officers, as well as lied about what happened, according to the public defender’s office.

Deputy Public Defender Tal Klement said, “Mr. Lasalle was clearly defending himself against the aggressor who was trying to cover his own tracks. Police investigators never challenged the holes in the security guard’s story and basically treated him with kid gloves. Yet, when police later arrested Mr. Lasalle, they made no attempt to interview him before booking him on felony charges.”

“The security guard was also caught on body-worn camera footage telling police that he had pulled a knife on Lasalle, but he later changed his story and told investigators that the knife fell out of his pocket. Surveillance footage from the scene shows the security guard throwing the first punch and shows a struggle over the knife. Both men sustained stab wounds,” the public defender’s office wrote.

Earlier this year, Lasalle turned down plea deal offers and Klement demanded a trial to prove his client’s innocence. Klement also argued for the case to be dismissed.

On Monday, a few days before a trial was set to begin, prosecutors dismissed the case and Lasalle was freed from jail, the public defender’s office said.