Kristen Guhde only wanted a home when she moved into her condo conversion in a historic building on Capp Street. She says instead, she got protracted drama and conflict with controlling and vexatious neighbors at her homeowners’ association. But unlike the many other neighborhood disputes in San Francisco, the neighbors are a San Francisco police commissioner and his deputy public defender wife. Guhde says the couple has been making her life hell while also allegedly protecting another neighbor who attacked other people in the neighborhood, including with a blowtorch, from police.
“They’re trying to deprive me of every right as a human,” Guhde told The Voice in an interview. “I’ve never seen humans act this poorly before.” She describes her situation with her neighbors, Deputy Public Defender Ilona Solomon Yañez and Police Commissioner Jesus Yañez, as “a disturbing pattern of abuse, intimidation, and retaliation.”
Guhde first moved into her home in 2018, and in many ways it fulfilled her hopes for a home in the city. When The Voice visited her Tuesday, she pointed out what she called “perfect imperfections”— differences in details like mouldings and such — which mark the building’s history as being quickly built in the months after the 1906 earthquake and fire. “The railroad-style layout captures sunlight beautifully, with full southern exposure that fills my bedroom and kitchen in the morning and sets in my front office bay window at day’s end. The fully enclosed backyard is a safe space for my cat, Pippa, to patrol,” she told us.
But just weeks after she moved in, she saw signs of tension among the other neighbors in the building, allegedly incited by the Yañez couple.
“They disapproved of the renter downstairs,” she told The Voice. “They set rules for him they didn’t follow themselves and treated him with hostility. And when disagreements arose with fellow owners, they were quick to accuse them of being volatile or delusional, using pressure and coercion to assert control over everyone.”
Things got worse late last year, according to Guhde, when Commissioner Yañez allegedly assaulted her during the course of a dispute over a homeowner-approved estimate for a tree trim. The conflict escalated into a small claims court case against Guhde and claims by Ilona Yañez that Guhde wasn’t paying HOA dues and was embezzling funds from the HOA — charges eventually refuted during the court case.
During her career at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Ilona Yañez has gained a reputation as an aggressive litigator whose tactics have sometimes attracted controversy.
In February, KGO-TV’s Dan Noyes reported on a particularly egregious domestic violence case where Ilona Yañez allegedly tried to get the victim in the case to agree to a lower sentence for her client by bargaining with her over a separate small claims case she filed against him, and had also inappropriately lobbied members of the jury outside of court, even offering to buy them drinks.
The San Francisco Deputy Sherriff’s Association filed a complaint with the State Bar of California over Ilona Yañez’s conduct in the case. In a press release, the union’s president, Ken Lomba, described her behavior as “deeply concerning and undermining the principles of justice and fairness that are fundamental to our legal system.”
Meanwhile, back at the Capp Street building, things had worsened by March, and the wider world was brought into this private war.
Another resident of the building, Tristan Farnon, who was also president of the home owners’ association during its dispute with Guhde, had allegedly been engaging in multiple acts of vigilantism against unhoused and other people on their block. Lou Barberini, a retired veteran San Francisco police officer who writes for the Westside Observer as well as his own Substack, interviewed other neighborhood residents who related incidents where Farnon shot paintballs at people, and in May 2023 allegedly attacked an unhoused woman leaving her with a severe head injury.
This culminated in an incident on the evening of March 13, where Farnon attacked a woman for blocking his driveway — with a blowtorch.
According to accounts of the incident on Lou Barberini’s Substack, Yesenia Lacayo, an operations director at local nonprofit Mission Action, was talking to a friend in her car when Farnon confronted them and then tried to burn Lacayo with the blowtorch through the partially open car window. When Lacayo came out of the car to confront him, he tried to burn her face again. When the two tried to restrain Farnon, he escaped into his building, and they called the police. (Lacayo confirmed the incident to The Voice via text.)
When police came to investigate, Barberini says Iona Yañez attempted to block the officers in hot pursuit of Farnon from entering the building. Then Guhde let them in. Farnon’s wife would not let the officers into their apartment, and then the Yañez couple confronted the officers and told them to leave. Farnon surrendered himself to police four hours later.
The case against Farnon was suspended in September. He’s currently free on pretrial diversion. San Francisco police refused a public records request by Barberini for officer body cam footage of their interaction with Yañez during the incident, and he’s raised questions of whether the agency is treating the case with kid gloves due to the Yañezes’ involvement.
Guhde thought the incident would shed more light and help relieve her from the infighting in her building. She didn’t count on it becoming a political hot potato.
“When I saw the police surrounding our property, I thought, ‘finally, the nightmare of the past five years can end,’” Guhde told The Voice in an interview. “My intention in assisting the police on the night of March 13, 2024, was to help capture a violent fugitive and convey the serious danger Farnon poses — I felt guilty for not coming forward sooner. I was afraid. I also wanted to share the attack by Yanez on Nov. 7, 2023 and the severe retaliation following the experience. That night, I had no idea Yanez and Solomon had connections to the SFPD.”
Meanwhile, Guhde says, the Yañez couple continues to lead a campaign of harassment against her, including what she calls “relentless, hostile emails,” stolen packages, interrupted hot water in her shower, damage to her credit from the lawsuit, and renewed threats to place a lien on her home.
To document some of these incidents, Guhde has been installing doorbell cameras, which the Yañezes have been recorded promptly tearing down — including while verbally abusing Guhde.
Police reports on the incidents are reportedly being reviewed by the district attorney’s office, but neither agency is willing to comment.
When Guhde gave The Voice a tour around the building, she highlighted its unbalanced condition — the side of the property with units owned by the Yañezes and Farnons is freshly painted. In contrast, Guhde’s side shows visible damage.
“My daily life is filled with challenges due to ongoing intimidation,” says Guhde. “Over the past few months, I’ve worked closely with SFPD sergeants and officers, almost like an off-the-clock beat cop, gathering enough evidence to bring Solomon and Yañez to justice so I can restore my life.”
When contacted for comment, Commissioner Yañez told The Voice that Guhde’s allegations were “baseless,” and Deputy Public Defender Yañez responded through a representative that she “is seeking Court protection against the weaponization of police and media attacks.” The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office declines to comment.
