Death probe at SF’s Westfield mall no longer viewed as homicide

The death of a young restaurant worker whose body was found inside Westfield San Francisco Centre last week was reclassified as a suspicious death after investigators initially ruled it a homicide, police said Tuesday.

Frank Galicia, a 28-year-old line cook at the Michelin-starred Union Square restaurant Sons & Daughters, was found dead in an emergency exit stairwell at the Market Street mall Wednesday.

Galicia’s body was discovered about 10:15 a.m., and his death was ruled by a medical examiner on scene as a homicide. But the case is now being probed as a suspicious death, said Officer Giselle Talkoff, a San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman.

Pedestrians on Market Street walk past an entrance to Westfield San Francisco Centre on Friday, September 25, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. Pedestrians on Market Street walk past an entrance to Westfield San Francisco Centre on Friday, September 25, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Death probe at SF’s Westfield mall no longer viewed as homicide 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Authorities would not say why the case is no longer considered a homicide.

“That doesn’t necessarily totally rule it out,” Talkoff said.

Homicide detectives were continuing to work on the case in conjunction with the medical examiner, she said.

An official at the medical examiner’s office said the agency would not use any terms to characterize the incident until the cause of death is determined.

Police have declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the death or comment on a possible motive. No suspects had been identified.

An investigation by The Chronicle in January showed the 800 block of Market Street, which includes the Westfield mall, generates more crime reports than any other single block in the city.

Excluding noncriminal and traffic-related incidents, nearly 1,400 police reports — on average nearly four per day — were filed from the block and its bordering intersections last year, according to police records.

More than half of the reports were for theft or larceny, although there were 100 reported assaults, 80 robberies and nine reports of sexual assault.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno