Gym member kills another with bar, police say
by Henry K. Lee
A member of a South San Francisco gym has been arrested on suspicion of killing another gym member with a steel bar used for lifting weights, police said Thursday.
Kenneth Osako, 46, of South San Francisco was being held without bail at San Mateo County Jail in connection with the slaying at Bally Total Fitness at 180 El Camino Real, according to police and an employee.
The victim, whose name wasn't immediately released, died Thursday at San Francisco General Hospital.
The attack happened about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when Osako got into a confrontation with the victim and "used a solid steel bar, normally used to lift weights, to strike the victim on his head several times," police said.
After the attack, Osako dropped the bar and left the scene, authorities said.
He was arrested Thursday by South San Francisco police and a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Felipe Mendes, who works the gym's front desk, said Thursday that a maintenance worker had seen the victim talking to a woman shortly before the attack.
"I think he saw the other guy talking to her, flirting with her, and I think he got really angry, came up from behind and hit him in the head with a bar we use for tricep dips," Mendes said. Workers said the suspect "gets jealous a lot," he said. Both Osako and the victim are longtime members of the gym, said Mendes, who expressed shock at the attack.
"This came out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like this happen at the gym," Mendes said. "At first, I thought something fell on him, that he hurt himself. But then someone was telling me that he got hit in the back of the head."
