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What happened to Richard Sprague?
Police might have made a small crack in solving the tragic murder earlier this week. Officer Albie Esparza told SF Weekly this morning that they arrested 42-year-old Roland Pouncy on suspicion of stolen property.
Although Pouncy has not been charged with murder, he was found to have 47-year-old Richard Sprague's debit card on him, police said. Sprague was killed on Sunday during an early-morning robbery. But because Sprague -- whose cause of death has not yet been determined -- had been lying on the sidewalk for several hours before police arrived, it's possible the suspect could have taken the debit card from him then, Esparza said.
"We don't know, we're still investigating," Esparza said.
Sprague's murder hit a nerve with residents in the Mission District after neighbors learned his early-morning cries for help had gone ignored. As
Mission Local previously reported, Sprague was robbed on
Julian Avenue between 15th and 16th streets sometime after 2 a.m.
Sunday. Neighbors said they heard Sprague call out for help, saying he couldn't breathe, but nobody
-- not even police -- came to his assistance.
He laid there for five hours, belly up, while pedestrians walked around him, passing him by. It didn't occur to anyone that Sprague was dead -- many believed he was drunk and passed out. Police finally arrived after 7 a.m. and declared him dead.
Police have since plastered the neighborhood with signs asking for the public's help in solving this case. "We ask anyone in the area of this street and the blocks surrounding
it who saw or heard anything to contact SFPD," the signs reads. "You can
remain anonymous: tip line 575-4444."
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