Police have arrested a young woman in relation to the killing of Joe Olivares Hernandez, the UCSF medical student who was beaten to death nearly four months ago at a San Francisco nightclub. SFPD says it arrested Tracy Luong, 22, of San Jose on suspicion of aggravated assault.
Police say Luong was the female suspect who struck a man in the head and face as he tried to intervene when Hernandez was being beaten. Luong allegedly used her high-heeled shoe in the attack. She has been booked in San Francisco County Jail, according to police.
Officer Albie Esparza told SF Weekly that police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with the beating of Hernandez, nor do they have any solid leads, yet today's arrest is certainly a turning point.
Hernandez, a UCSF medical student, was at Temple Nightclub with a classmate in January when he and another man were attacked and beaten at about 1:20 a.m. He was knocked into a coma and declared brain-dead. He died a few days later.
Twenty minutes after Hernandez was beaten, three Asian men stabbed two more men with broken bottles, according to police. The night
before, a stabbing occurred at the club. Since then, the city has been debating how to deal with club violence without being a buzzkill. There is a proposal to possibly force nightclubs to have metal detectors and ID scans at the door.
While police say they have no other leads in the Hernandez case, they believe the person responsible for the attack is from the South Bay. SFPD released the following surveillance video from inside the club that night prior to the beating. It shows video of one suspect -- an Asian male with a sleeve tattoo on his right arm.
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