Jaxon Van Derbeken is an award-winning reporter for NBC Bay Area, with a focus on public safety and enterprise reporting. He joined NBC Bay Area in March of 2016.
Prior to joining NBC Bay Area, he reported for the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly 20 years, leading the paper’s investigative and public safety efforts. Among other high profile stories, he has covered the O.J. Simpson case, the Rodney King beating, the Los Angeles riots, Fajitagate and the dog mauling death of Diane Whipple.
Jaxon also spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of the San Bruno Pipeline Explosion, for which he was awarded Journalist of the Year by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Most recently he reported on the ongoing problems with the new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge uncovering major infrastructure flaws with the bridge’s construction.
Before joining the San Francisco Chronicle, Jaxon reported on law enforcement for the Los Angeles Daily News where his coverage of the LAPD during the Rodney King beating was recognized by the American Civil Liberties Union. He went on to do extensive interviews and research for the book "Official Negligence," by former Washington Post reporter Lou Cannon about the LAPD, the beating and ensuing riots.
Jaxon has been recognized for his work by several news organizations including the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Headliner Awards, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the Associated Press.
He received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow Jaxon on Instagram @jaxonvanderbeken and X @jvanderbeken.
The Latest
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Woman found dead at San Francisco hotel identified as Tommy Lee Jones' daughter
The woman found dead in the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel has been identified as Victoria Jones, daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, the San Francisco Medical Examiner confirmed Friday.
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7 Dead, 1 Injured in Half Moon Bay Mass Shooting; Suspect in Custody
Seven people were killed in a mass shooting that spanned two separate scenes in Half Moon Bay Monday afternoon, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
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Convertible Reported Stolen in '92 Found Buried in Yard of $15 Million Calif. Mansion
A former owner of the $15 million Atherton estate where a buried car was discovered Thursday had reported the vehicle stolen NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned. He also had a decades long history of arrests for fraud and even homicide.
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Landscapers Discover Car Buried Decades Ago in Backyard
Landscapers found a car buried in an Atherton backyard Thursday morning, police said.
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San Francisco Man Dies After Being Handcuffed, Held Down by Police and Fire Crews
Authorities are investigating the death of a 35-year-old man who twice told police and fire crews he couldn’t breathe as he was being held, face-down, after being handcuffed for several minutes, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned.
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San Francisco Police Officers Charged with Destroying Evidence
Two San Francisco police officers surrendered Tuesday to face charges of destroying evidence, while a retired officer, who had been working part-time with the gun destruction unit at the SFPD evidence room, faces unrelated felony charges of taking a soon-to-be-destroyed MP5 submachine gun and silencer home from the property room, authorities said.
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‘Things I Regret' Journal Entry Key in Cracking 29-Year-Old Cold Case
The break in a decades-old cold case came from a lucky break by out-of-state police. Law enforcement officials will not discuss how they solved the case, but the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit has learned it started with Oklahoma police finding a private journal with a confession to a crime nearly 1,500 miles away.
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San Francisco Skyscraper Tilting 3 Inches Per Year as Race to Fix Underway
The engineer responsible for the troubled fix of the Millennium Tower acknowledged Thursday that the building is continuing to tilt about 3 inches a year since work began.
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Image From Space Shows Downtown San Francisco Sinking Slowly Around Millennium Tower
The Millennium Tower may be the most recognizable sinking building in the city, but one researcher says earth-based and space-based observations confirm the entire downtown area around it is sinking as well.
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Tilting Millennium Tower in San Francisco Faces New Plumbing Problem
The designer of the troubled fix for the sinking and tilting Millennium Tower recently briefed city officials about an especially unpleasant potential byproduct of the building’s settlement – sewer backups, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned.
