Police arrested a man on suspicion of assaulting the owner and a manager of Shaws Candy Wednesday in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood.
Officers responded at 1:42 p.m. to the scene and were told that bystanders had detained the man outside the store at 122 W. Portal Ave., SFPD said.
Police say they arrested the man and found three injured victims, who were treated by paramedics.
Shaws took to Instagram to announce the store’s early closure Wednesday because of what happened.
“A homeless man that was sitting on the bench attacked Diana, our owner and then went after Nina, our manager, and a customer in the store,” the post said. “Thank God for passerby’s who were witness and tackled him and held him down until police arrived.”
Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the area, said she was coming up West Portal Avenue after surveying the damage of an overnight break-in at nearby Little Original Joe’s when officers were just getting to Shaws.
According to Melgar, the suspect—who appeared to be over 6 feet tall—attacked owner Diana Zogaric and punched the manager in the face before proceeding to assault an older customer. The assailant didn’t appear to be someone who normally frequents the neighborhood, she added.
“The cashier said that she had seen him one time prior,” Melgar said, adding nearby business owners and pedestrians kept the suspect from leaving. “He is a tall guy, and Diana is not that big. She was assessed, and they said she needed to be taken to a hospital.”
Zogaric was reportedly taken to a University of California San Francisco Medical Center, Melgar added. The other two victims were not taken to the hospital.