San Francisco Police Officer Christopher Kohrs, who has been nicknamed the “Hot Cop of Castro,” was arrested on felony hit and run charges, police said. (Mark Abramson/Facebook)
A San Francisco police officer who has been nicknamed the “Hot Cop of Castro,” was arrested Sunday morning on felony hit-and-run charges.
Christopher Kohrs, 38, is accused of hitting two men with his car in the city’s North Beach neighborhood and then fleeing from the scene, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Police said the hit-and-run occurred at about 2:20 a.m. as the two men crossed the street. The men, whose names were not released, were taken to San Francisco General Hospital.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Police Say He Ran From the Scene & They Later Traced the Car to Him
Police traced the 2009 Dodge Charger left at the scene on Broadway near Montgomery Street to Officer Chris Kohrs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
According to the Chronicle, Kohrs was arrested on two counts of suspicion of felony hit-and-run involving injury and was booked at the San Francisco County Jail early Sunday.
2. The Two Men He Is Accused of Hitting Have Been Hospitalized With Serious Injuries
Police told the San Francisco Chronicle that the two men, both in their 40s, were taken to San Francisco General Hospital with serious injuries.
The extent of the injuries was not immediately known, but the men are expected to survive, the Chronicle reports.
3. Kohrs Was ‘Discovered’ by a San Francisco Resident Last Year
Officer Chris Kohrs was given the nickname the “Hot Cop of Castro” in 2014. He was first “discovered” by San Francisco resident Mark Abramson, who posted photos of Kohrs to Facebook.
“19th & Castro cop on bike up-date: He was still there when I was on my way home from the gym. I told him the picture I took of him this morning was too dark. ‘Oh, was I?’ he regretfully asked, as if it were his fault. ‘Do you mind if I take a couple more?’ ‘Sure!’ he grinned and gave me a thumbs-up!,” Abramson posted in May 2014.
Several other people began taking photos of Kohrs as he patrolled in the Castro district and around the city, posting to Facebook. A page on the social media site and a parody Twitter account were soon dedicated to him.
Kohrs’ celebrity came around the same time as “Hot Mug Shot Guy” Jeremy Meeks, and many called him a hero, compared to the villainous Meeks.
Buzzfeed called him the “Hottest Cop Ever,” and The Daily Beast called him “the Batman to Sexy Mug Shot Guy’s Joker.”
Kohrs told CNN, “I was out there one day doing traffic control and some guys asked if they could have photos of me and I consented. It kind of went viral from there.”
Kohrs became so popular that he was taken off the streets until the fervor died down somewhat. The Facebook page in his honor shows that he is still stopped often to take photos with his adoring fans.
4. Kohrs Was Born in Korea & Grew Up in California
Kohrs in 2014. (Mark Abramson/Facebook)
Kohrs told HalfKorean.com that he was born in South Korea in 1977, when his dad was in the military and stationed there. His mother is Korean. He grew up in Belmont, California.
He told the website he was working in the biotech industry, purifying human growth hormone, before becoming a police officers.
“It just kind of happened. I had a friend who I was dating at the time who was in law enforcement. I ended up going with her to a law enforcement conference and at the conference I met some other guys that were in law enforcement and I thought these people were really cool and I could see myself hanging out with these guys outside of work. So, I started hanging out with them and next thing you know I started talking to them about their jobs, I applied, and never looked back,” he said.
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Kohrs, who said he is currently single, as of July 2015, played college football at the University of Miami in Ohio. He became a police officer in 2008.
He told HalfKorean about dealing with his new-found fame, “My personal life didn’t change too much. There were times when I would leave my house and I would just put on a hat and sunglasses, things of that nature, as there would be people outside wanting to talk, take a picture or get an autograph. In a way, you knew everyone was watching every move I made so I made sure I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate at any time. I drove very carefully, never peeled out. Just little minor stuff that kind of changed. I never got overly drunk and said inappropriate things like before this thing came out. Because everyone was watching.”
5. He Used His Popularity for a Ice Bucket Challenge Fundraiser & Was Recently a Calendar Model
Last August, he used his fame to raise money for the Officer Down Memorial Fund with an “Ice Bucket Challenge Event.” You can watch video above.
He is one of the models in the 2016 “Fit Cops” calendar, posing shirtless.
