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I nodded at Yuki as I went through the gate, then continued to the witness box, where I placed my hand on the Bible and swore to tell the whole truth, so help me God.
When I was seated, my dear friend Yuki approached me.
She asked me a series of questions, establishing my occupation and expertise: how long I had been with the SFPD, what department, how many commendations, and if I had arrested Connor Grant on the night in question.
Yuki is a fast talker, but I’m used to her pace. She snapped out the questions, and I answered without hesitation or embellishment.
She said, “Sergeant Boxer, were you working at 7:23 p.m. on August 3, the night of the Sci-Tron incident?”
I said “No, I was having dinner with my husband in a restaurant on Pier 9 directly opposite Pier 15. We had a clear view of Sci-Tron.”
She asked me to recount the events, and I did so, starting with our window on the explosion, our departure from the restaurant, and our race to the scene a short way up the street.
I said, “Crowds were fleeing the site of the bomb, running past where my husband and I were standing at the edge of the sidewalk. My husband—his name is Joe Molinari—was calling for emergency support, and I was waiting with him when I noticed a man standing stock-still in the middle of the moving crowd.”
“Do you see that man in the room now?”
“Yes. I saw the defendant.”
“Okay,” Yuki said. “Please tell the jury what happened next.”
I recalled my very vivid memories of speaking to Grant, and I repeated what I had said to him, what he had said to me.
“I took him to be a witness and I asked him to tell me what he had seen. My husband was standing with me, and we both heard Mr. Grant take full and individual credit for blowing up the museum.
“He told me that he hadn’t simply witnessed the explosion, he had created it,” I told the court. “He said that it was beautiful and that he awarded himself an A-plus with extra points for the sunset.”
“And did you find this answer believable?”
“I didn’t know what to think at first. So I asked him to tell me again what had happened. He again insisted that he had exploded the bomb, and he elaborated on his original statement, essentially boasting about what a beautiful work of art he had created.”
“What happened next, Sergeant Boxer?”
“I arrested Mr. Grant for destruction of public property. After I read him his rights, I brought him over to a squad car and gave one of the officers orders to take him to booking and to turn him over to Lieutenant Brady of Homicide, my CO.”
Yuki asked, “And how did Mr. Grant appear to you?”
I said, “He was lucid. He seemed to have full awareness of the events and his role in them.”
“Did you offer medical treatment?”
“I asked him how he felt. He said he was fine.”
Yuki asked, “What happened after that?”
“The squad car left and my husband ran into what was left of Sci-Tron to see if he could help any survivors. He was hit by debris in the second blast.”
“Sergeant Boxer, was he injured?”
“Yes.”
“And did you interview Mr. Grant the next morning?”
“I did, along with Lieutenant Brady.”
“Can you describe that interview for the court?”
“Yes. The defendant was uncooperative. He denied confessing to the bombing and refused to answer further questions.”
