Pretty Boy JJ Phelps and his sidekick Haley Edwards are still on the loose. Help us smoke out this dangerous couple. They are said to be armed, dangerous, desperate, and still planning a big score. Once petty criminals, they have now graduated to the big time. Wanted for assault, attempted murder, robbery and fraud, this couple may still be in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Witnesses say they were last seen in a Black ‘64 Impala. They have been spotted terrorizing citizens in the Tenderloin, the Mission, and other neighborhoods in San Francisco.(The Full Story...)

Mark Rossellini is lucky to be alive. The cab driver for Trans Bay cab company first met Haley Edwards and J.J. Phelps when the two appeared as his roommate’s house guests. “I knew when I first met them that they were up to no good.”A day later, the couple disappeared, but not without leaving their mark.

“It was a bloodbath," Rossellini says of the ensuing massacre that resulted in the deaths of his roommates. “I didn’t think he (Phelps) was capable of it, as cocky as he was. Its was like out of some punk noir nightmare.”

He describes the deadly couple as wannabe Marilyn Monroe and James Dean types. “He was just asking for it. You know the type. The pretty boy - - - hole type.” His memories of Edwards, however, are mixed. “She was rude, irresponsible and wild. But she didn’t want to be with him. Like she was looking for a way to escape. Even if it meant death, I think.”

And he talks about the mystery man that saved his life. “I thought I was going to die, and all of a sudden all hell broke loose, and this guy came out like out of a Sergio Leone western, and I ran...” When asked what happened next, he shrugged. “You guys think J.J.’s still on the loose, but I’m sure he got smok’d.” As for Haley Edwards, he ended with “She’s somewhere. If she’s alive and reading this, I just want to say that I am deeply sorry.”

F.M. Banting knows a good story when he sees it. “J.J. Phelps and Haley Edwards’ story has everything – sex, drugs, murder. After extensive interviews, we pumped out a script and here we are.”

"Here" is the streets of San Francisco, which Banting sees as an opportunity to show the opposite side of the San Francisco that most people know and love with S M O K ' D, his first feature film. “San Francisco is not without its problems. There are a lot of bad apples out here. Its not always the picture perfect city we are use to seeing on postcards."

The challenge for the filmmaker was to make the 35mm film on a shoestring budget. “The digital medium is great,” he insists, “but there’s a certain look that we’re trying to attain that we can only do in film. At least, that’s what I told my backers.”

Banting was also fortunate in that he was able to find actors who look exactly like the fugitives he’s portraying. “Uncanny. Uncanny,” he says shaking his head .“Its as if they were cloned for the part.”

The film stars mainly unknowns, with Courtney Stephens as Haley and Matt Martin as J.J. Other cast members include Delano Fuenticillio, Artie Bergeron, Rob Taylor and Leah Lockwood.

The film will also feature an original score by These Are Not My Hands and songs from artists such as The Weegs, Gypsy Cab, The S.F. Wifebeaters, Nino Moschella, Eric Wyatt, Max Baloian, TheUnknowns, Papillon, and Strumpet.

Man hospitalized after vicious attack!

Police are looking for a 6'4" black/hispanic male with lacerations on his face in connection with the assault of 19 year old Stan Hanson.

On the afternoon of January 14, 2005, police say Hanson was walking home when he was viviously attacked by an unidentified suspect. David Xavier, the victim's friend and last person to see him before the assault, recalls bumping into the suspect when he and Hanson were walking out of Hennesy's liquor store on Octavia Street. “It was hard to tell what he looked like," remembers Xavier. "He couldn’t talk. He had bandages over his face. He looked like a leper." Hanson remains in a coma at San Francisco General Hospital.

Police say the suspect fits the description of "Big Game" James Francisco, who has been missing since early January. Francisco is an ex-con whose run in with fellow fugitives Haley Edwards and JJ Phelps made local headlines.

San Francisco Sideshow turns into Cat-astrophe!

Incident at Bay Area sideshow claims the life of loyal pet.

Blue Memories

Louisa May Robinson has no children and is not married. Her life partner, she says, was Blue Moon, her cat of 6 years. “She was my life,” recalled Robinson as she tried to control the endless flow of tears from her face.

El Gato Muerte

On January 13, 2005, Robinson watched in horror as Blue was trampled to death by a 1964 Impala during a hydraulic “hopping” contest. It’s just one of the latest tragedies stemming from a growing problem with car side shows in San Francisco. Det. Anthony Mendoza explains, “Kids nowadays are putting money into their cars. They want them faster. They want them with hydraulics. An X-box in the console. They want to show off at these events, which almost always end in violence.”

Carlos X, as he describes himself, defends the sideshows, saying “Its youth expression. Just like drag racing in the day. Of course, there are going to be accidents, but hey, that’s life, bendejo.”

Det. Mendoza disagrees “Often times, guns and drugs are forced on certain perpetrators at these events.

What to do. What to do.

The problem only frustrates Louisa May. "I'll have to replace Blue. Or get married. Or have children. Or both.”

Surveillance video of 18 year old Sacred Hart high school senior Yola Scarsborough, missing since January 14, 2005, was discovered this morning. Melody Sampson, owner of designer clothes store Verdi’s, turned in a surveillance tape with what appears to be Scarsborough and JJ Phelps, the latter a fugitive wanted for assault, attempted murder, armed robbery, and other serious charges. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.

Police say the tape sat unnoticed until recently. “I wasn’t in the store at the time, and I rarely watch (surveillance) tapes unless we notice a shortage in our inventory. It’s chilling, thinking that that scumbag (Phelps) was in my store.”

Scarsborough was last seen by friends in front of St. Andrews Church. Other witnesses saw her get into a Black ‘64 Impala, which fits the same description of the stolen car JJ Phelps was last seen driving in.

John and Dora Scarsborough, Yola’s parents, viewed the tape with police detectives and confirmed that the woman with Phelps is their daughter. They could not be reached for further comment, though detectives working the case say they remain optimistic that they will find Yola soon.