A San Francisco man was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison May 28 after pleading guilty to charges stemming from an armed carjacking of a San Francisco AIDS Foundation vehicle, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Lafayette Davenport, 30, had been indicted on July 17, 2024 on charges of carjacking, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Court Judge William Alsup sentenced Davenport to a five-year period of supervised release and ordered $500 in restitution, the release stated.
According to the release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, on August 24, 2023, Davenport saw an AIDS foundation vehicle in the Tenderloin, and, as the driver made a stop to pick up discarded needles and was returning to the vehicle, the defendant, wearing a ski mask, went up to the driver and pointed a pistol at him. The vehicle had the nonprofit’s logos on it, the release noted.
“Don’t make me shoot you,” prosecutors state Davenport said. “I swear I’ll shoot you right here.”
At that time, Davenport stole the victim’s watch and car keys and drove the vehicle several feet before fleeing on foot to a nearby apartment building, the release stated.
Davenport was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department on February 22, 2024. When he was found, it was with the ski mask and pistol purportedly used the previous summer, the release stated.
Davenport was on probation from prior felony convictions, including second-degree burglary of automobiles while on parole, the release stated.
The AIDS foundation declined to comment to the Bay Area Reporter for this report.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara E. Henderson prosecuted the case with the assistance of Claudia Hyslop, Alycee Lane, and Janice Pagsanjan, the release stated.
Davenport was represented by the federal public defender’s office. His attorney, Elizabeth Meyer Falk, did not answer an immediate request for comment.