San Francisco police have made an arrest in the killing of the tech executive and Cash App creator Bob Lee, who was fatally stabbed last week in a crime that sent shock waves through the city and the tech industry.
Law enforcement officers made an arrest early Thursday morning in nearby Emeryville, officials confirmed at a press conference Thursday afternoon. The suspect in the case, Nima Momeni, knew Lee, officials said, and appears to work in the tech industry.
Momeni was taken into custody without incident and transported to the county jail on a charge of murder, said the San Francisco police chief, Bill Scott.
“Our investigators have been working tirelessly to make this arrest and bring this case to justice for the Lee family, just as we would for every homicide that occurs in the city,” he said.
Officials declined to provide details about the evidence that led them to Momeni and the exact circumstances of Lee’s death, citing an investigation that is still under way.
“We know that this has been a high-profile case and there has been a lot of speculation, and a lot of things said about our city and crime in the city,” said the city’s mayor, London Breed.
Police found the 43-year-old Lee with stab wounds on the sidewalk in front of a condominium building in the Rincon Hill neighborhood shortly after 2.35am last Tuesday. Few details were released in the case immediately, but surveillance footage showed Lee stumbling along a sidewalk and seeking help in the aftermath of the violent attack.
Lee was traveling in Momeni’s car when there was a confrontation and Lee left the vehicle, reported Mission Local, which broke the story of the arrest. Momeni allegedly stabbed Lee multiple times using a knife that was later recovered near the scene, according to the outlet.
Momeni, 38, describes himself as an IT consultant and entrepreneur on LinkedIn. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Momeni was charged in 2011 with allegedly selling a switchblade knife.
The San Francisco police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lee, who created the mobile payment service Cash App while working as chief technology officer of Square, was the chief product officer for the cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin when he died. Friends have described him as a brilliant man with “innate kindness” and “boundless energy”.
Though the circumstances of Lee’s death long remained unclear, the tragedy fueled fears about crime in San Francisco. . The city has a lower homicide and violent crime rate than other major cities, but many residents have grown frustrated by the addiction and homelessness crisis playing out on the streets and high rates of property crime.
Tech leaders were quick to put pressure on public officials to address crime in the city. After the killing, Twitter CEO Elon Musk had decried violent crime in San Francisco and claimed perpetrators are often quickly released.
The district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, described Musk’s comments as misinformation.
“Even one murder is too many. Regardless of the facts, violent acts like this are jarring to us all,” Jenkins said. “I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr Musk’s tweet, that assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr Lee’s death serve to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco and also negatively impact the pursuit of justice for victims of crime.”
Officials pointed out that Lee was killed by someone that he knew and pushed back against depictions of the city as out of control.
“They knew each other. This has nothing to do with San Francisco. This has to do with human nature,” the police chief said.
Momeni will be arraigned on Friday afternoon, Jenkins said, on charges of murder with an enhancement for the use of a knife.
