Alleged SF dog killer ordered to trial as pet owner testifies: ‘What happened?’

Wakeen Best, 35, is charged with animal cruelty, auto burglary and other crimes in the Feb. 10 death of a Chihuahua at Sutter and Stockton streets. Wakeen Best, 35, is charged with animal cruelty, auto burglary and other crimes in the Feb. 10 death of a Chihuahua at Sutter and Stockton streets. Photo: SFPD / / Photo: SFPD / / Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Alleged SF dog killer ordered to trial as pet owner testifies: ‘What happened?’ 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

As Chunan Liu headed back to his car after grabbing lunch in San Francisco’s Chinatown, he noticed people had gathered around a small brown and black dog in the street below the high-rise garage where he had parked.

Liu had left his 5-year-old Chihuahua, Dunky, in his white Mercedes seven stories up. But he refused, at first, to believe the dead animal on Stockton Street could be his beloved pet. When Liu got closer, the horror set in.

“I was completely shocked because I thought there was no way this could happen,” Liu testified Wednesday. “I had my puppy’s body in my hands, and I asked, ‘What happened?’”

Liu recounted the Feb. 10 episode at a preliminary hearing for Wakeen Best, after which Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi ordered Best to stand trial March 14 on charges including animal cruelty, auto burglary and vandalism.

Authorities say Best broke into Liu’s Mercedes, grabbed the dog and added a ghastly twist to San Francisco’s property-crime epidemic.

Best’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Alexandra Pray, argued at the hearing that her client didn’t touch Dunky and had come upon the vehicle after the break-in. Pray said there is no eyewitness or video evidence of the defendant throwing the dog off the parking structure.

Court records show Best has a lengthy rap sheet of smash-and-grab crimes. In 2016, she was convicted of committing an auto burglary in the same garage at Stockton and Sutter streets. Best was on probation for the crime and had been ordered by a judge to stay away from the garage.

Prosecutors on Wednesday played dash-camera footage from inside Liu’s car that helped police identify their suspect. A security guard had watched the video at the scene and identified the suspect as Best, who goes by “La La.”

Assistant District Attorney Shirin Oloumi also played for the judge security video from the garage showing Dunky hit the pavement on Stockton Street, bounce slightly and come to his final rest.

San Francisco saw more than 30,000 auto break-ins last year, or roughly 85 a day, nearly tripling the count from five years earlier. But the case involving Dunky shocked many residents due to the circumstances and revelations about the defendant’s criminal history.

The Chronicle reported Best has racked up dozens of arrests and several convictions in San Francisco and beyond over the past 15 years, but has rarely served more than a few weeks in jail.

Outside court Wednesday, Liu offered advice to potential break-in victims: Get a dash camera like the one that cracked his case.

While the forward-facing camera didn’t capture what happened inside the car, it did record audio. A dog is heard frantically yelping over the honking of the car alarm. A voice is heard twice saying, “Shut yo ass up!”

Then, suddenly, the yelping stops. “Bitch,” the voice says, twice.

“He was very scared,” Liu said of his dog, which a friend had given him three years ago before moving to China. “I heard his voice. It was not angry. I think he was trying to escape from something.”

In a second video less than three minutes later, a figure that the prosecution and defense agree is Best approaches the Mercedes, then later heads toward a stairwell exit.

Police say what isn’t shown is Best walking 144 feet to a railing and hurling the dog over. Prosecutors submitted pictures of blood pooled on the railing.

Police also reported finding blood on the back seat of Liu’s car and smeared on the headrests, testified Officer Vanessa Johnson, who was the first to the scene. Dog waste was found on the front passenger’s seat, she said.

Public Defender Pray didn’t dispute Best was the figure in the second video, but said someone else broke into the car. The dog, she argued, may have run off the ledge on its own.

“There is no evidence that Ms. Best killed this dog,” Pray said. “This would be a senseless and violent crime that does not conform to her character.”