Ariel Cruz had run out of beer Feb. 11 after watching the San Francisco 49ers’ overtime Super Bowl defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs and went to a gas station to pick up more booze.
As he walked toward the Gulf station on the edge of the Excelsior, he noticed a gang of dirt bike riders. One of the riders punched him in the mouth, splitting his lip on both sides, he said.
What happened next was a blur, one captured in a viral video shot by a Gulf clerk. Police further spelled out the events Tuesday, announcing the arrest of a suspect tracked down several weeks ago.
In the video, Cruz is seen waving his arms frantically and lunging at riders as two police officers, batons drawn, appear to call for backup and try to remove Cruz from the situation, as bikes and an ATV race around them.
Then, Cruz, wearing a red 49ers jersey, is run over at speed by an ATV and smashed into bollards. The quad bike hits the posts in front of a gas pump with such force that the rider is thrown from his seat. The rider appears to get up and run from police as Cruz struggles to his feet, visibly injured.
The rider, prosecutors say, was Julian Ulloa Gomez. The 31-year-old has been charged with the attempted murder of Cruz and assault with a deadly weapon — namely, the Yamaha FX quad bike — on San Francisco Police Department officers Hai Li and Robert Rutledge.
“I had to have staples in my head,” Cruz told The Standard in a phone call. “The cops showed up right after the guy hit me in the lip.”
Cruz also suffered a knee injury and concussion and couldn’t walk for more than a month, he said, leaving him unable to do his work as a painter.
Police had to give Cruz a ride home after the first court hearing, he said, due to the number of supporters Ulloa Gomez had in the room.
“Mr. Ulloa Gomez is a longtime Bay Area resident who, until his arrest, worked for years for a local towing company,” said Deputy Public Defender Eden Schwartz. “He has the support of his family, and our office is committed to defending him against these charges.”
Gangs of dirt bike and ATV riders regularly tour around the city, causing traffic chaos and infuriating residents with noisy exhausts. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider new legal powers to use drones and seize vehicles related to sideshows and bikers.