Omeed Aziz Popal

You haven't heard that name before?

I listened to some TV news last evening and there was extensive coverage of the rampage in San Francisco yesterday of a man in a black SUV repeatedly running down and over all sorts of people. But his name was not mentioned nor was there a picture of him being arrested by police, although by all accounts he cooperated with police when they trapped him and he compliantly sat on the sidewalk for 25 minutes while police sorted out the scene. And not one picture?

Well, there are no clues being given for his motivation. But his name has been released and it is OMEED AZIZ POPAL. You can infer his motivation as well as I can. By the way, this picture is reportedly only a few weeks old and is a wedding photo in Afganistan.

Here are excerpts from the San Francisco Gate:

"As many as 14 people were injured this afternoon by a motorist who drove around San Francisco deliberately running them down before being arrested by police, who believe the same driver struck and killed a man earlier today in Fremont.

At least one hit-and-run victim remained in critical condition this evening.

Reports of the incidents began pouring in at 12:47 p.m., police said.

Within a half-hour, San Francisco police had cornered and arrested 29-year-old Omeed Aziz Popal, who has addresses in Ceres (Stanislaus County) and Fremont.

Authorities suspect Popal was the same driver who ran over and killed a 54-year-old man in Fremont around noon.

That man, whose name was not immediately released, had been walking in a bicycle lane at Fremont Boulevard near Ferry Lane when he was struck and thrown into a field, where, as of 5:30 p.m., his body remained covered with a tarp.

That crash scene is just blocks from Popal's Fremont address, where he had most recently been living.

San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said the attacks in the city occurred at 12 locations over a 20-minute period.

"The hits were intentional,'' he said, noting that police are treating them as assaults.

Gittens had no information about a possible motive.

Popal was arrested after patrol cars boxed in his black Honda SUV, its windshield and right front headlight smashed, outside a Walgreens store on Spruce Street between California and Mayfair in the Laurel Heights area."

You can link to the entire article here.

Omeed appears to be an Iranian surname based on a Google search.