By Louis Wong, SFPOA President
I recently discovered that Willie Flanigan was released from parole without any notification to the Officer Lewin-Tankel family. The family is upset by the lack of notification, and I sent this letter to Governor Newsom to try and get clarification of this process. — Louis
I write to express my profound outrage and deep disappointment over the decision to release Willie Flanigan (also known as Maurquise Johnson) before he served his full 12-year, 8-month sentence for nearly killing San Francisco Police Officer Elia Lewin-Tankel.
This decision is unconscionable. It is a betrayal of a gravely injured officer, his family, and every law enforcement professional who risks his or her life to protect the people of California. It calls into serious question your commitment to crime victims, to public safety, and to the principle that violent offenders must be held fully accountable for the devastation they cause.
On October 18, 2017, Mr. Flanigan, while fleeing police in a stolen vehicle, drove the wrong way down one-way streets, through traffic and a construction zone, and violently struck Officer Lewin-Tankel. The impact was so catastrophic that responding paramedics believed the officer was dead. Surgeons at San Francisco General Hospital removed a portion of his skull the size of a human hand in a desperate attempt to save his life. His pregnant wife was warned that her husband might survive only as “a pulse in human form.”
Officer Lewin-Tankel’s survival has been described as miraculous. But survival is not the same as justice.
He suffered severe and permanent brain damage. His life, his career, and his family’s future were irrevocably altered. At the time of the attack, he was not only serving the City of San Francisco as a dedicated police officer, but also attending law school, working toward a future as an attorney. That dream was permanently destroyed. His ability to work, to function independently, and to live the life he had built was taken from him in an instant.
Mr. Flanigan was convicted in 2019 of multiple serious felony offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run causing serious bodily injury, evading and resisting an officer, fleeing the scene of an accident, receiving stolen property, and being an unlicensed driver. The court imposed what was then the maximum sentence under the law — 12 years and 8 months-reflecting the extraordinary gravity of the crime.
This was not a first offense. Mr. Flanigan’s criminal history stretches back decades and includes prior incidents in which he fled from law enforcement in stolen vehicles, endangering the public. In 2007, he fled Antioch police in a stolen car and crashed before running onto a freeway. In 2015, he led San Mateo police on a 100-mph pursuit along Highway 101 for 16 miles. These were not isolated lapses in judgment; they were part of a persistent pattern of reckless, dangerous behavior.
To release this individual early — after the court determined the maximum lawful sentence was appropriate — undermines the integrity of that sentence and the rule of law itself. It signals to victims, to law enforcement officers, and to the public that even the most violent and life-altering crimes against those sworn to protect us may be met with shortened consequences.
What message does this send to Officer Lewin-Tankel and his family, who continue to live every day with the physical, emotional, and financial toll of this crime? What message does it send to the men and women of the SFPD — and law enforcement agencies across California — who put on a badge each morning knowing they may not come home whole — or at all?
Justice requires more than survival. It requires accountability. It requires honoring the full weight of the sentence imposed by the court. And it requires standing firmly with victims — especially when the victim is a public servant who was nearly killed in the line of duty.
This decision is a disgrace to the justice system and a profound disservice to those who risk everything to protect our communities. I urge you to publicly explain the rationale for this early release and to reaffirm, through meaningful action, that California stands with victims of violent crime — not with those who inflict it.
Officer Lewin-Tankel practically gave his life in service to the people of this state. The least the State of California could do was require his assailant to serve the full sentence imposed.
Anything less is an abdication of responsibility.
Respectfully,
Louis Wong, President
San Francisco Police Officers Association
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