Bob Lee: Tech executive arrested in fatal stabbing of Cash App founder
Nima Momeni, 38, was arrested at his Emeryville home on Thursday morning and charged with murder, jail records show
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San Francisco police have arrested a fellow tech executive in connection with the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee.
Nima Momeni, 38, was booked into San Francisco County Jail on Thursday morning on a murder charge, records show.
The Mission Local news site was first to report on the arrest, and said Mr Momeni was known to Lee.
Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the suspect, but the arrest has been confirmed by Lee’s brother Tim Oliver Lee and ex-wife Krista.
Lee, 43, died in San Francisco General Hospital on Tuesday 4 April after being stabbed in the Rincon Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco.
Lee, the chief product officer at MobileCoin, had been visiting San Francisco for a tech conference from Miami when he was found with fatal stab wounds on outside a luxury high rise apartment on Main St.
According to the Mission Local, police believe Lee and Mr Momeni had been in a car together in the early hours of 4 April when a fight broke out between the pair.
Citing police sources, the news site alleges that the tech exceutive stabbed Lee twice outside the vehicle, and responding officers recovered a knife nearby.
According to a Linkedin profile, Mr Momeni is the owner of Expand IT and lives in Emeryville, in the Bay Area.
In a post on Facebook, the victim’s brother Tim Oliver Lee thanked the “thousands of friends, family, and community” who had been in touch to offer their support.
He also thanked the San Francisco Police Force for “bringing this person to justice so quickly”, and said the family would take an active role in helping the District Attorney’s office prosecute the case.
“Hopefully now our family can begin the healing process,” Mr Lee said.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said he was “grateful” to the city’s homicide division for “their tireless work to bring Bob Lee’s killer to justice and for their arrest of a suspect this morning” in a Twitter post.
“Obviously, nothing can undo this senseless crime, and we reiterate our condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members, friends and colleagues. But I hope today’s arrest can begin a process of healing and closure for all those touched by this tragedy.”
Lee’s murder was seized on by high-profile members of San Francisco’s tech community including Elon Musk as another expample of the city’s drug-fueled crime epidemic.
But according to reports, the fatal attack was not a robbery or a random mugging.
The suspect was reportedly arrested at an address in Emeryville, a city in the Bay Area, early on Thursday.
The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Independent.
City officials last week slammed the “politicisation” of Lee’s murder. San Francisco Mayor London Breed also warned against “jumping to conclusions” over Lee’s death.
“When some of the facts of many of these cases come out, people are going to be surprised,” Ms Breed told ABC News.
Lee’s final tragic moments as he stumbled, mortally wounded, down Main St in in search of help were captured on surveillance footage.
The father of two reportedly attempted to flag down a motorist in a parked Toyota Camry, lifting his shirt to show the extent of his injuries, but the driver fled instead of rendering care.
In a 911 call lodged at 2.34am, Lee reportedly said “someone stabbed me”. Police and medics arrived about six minutes later.
He was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital where he died soon afterwards.