A smartly dressed man was caught on video during a bizarre rampage near Haight Street, where he was seen pelting a building with eggs and arguing with bystanders. According to witnesses, he also threw eggs at a sleeping homeless man.
The Standard has identified the egg thrower as Aaron Dawson, a sales executive who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is currently looking for work. The window he is seen throwing eggs at belongs to the San Francisco Mercantile store on Haight Street.
A staff member at the store named Ann, who declined to give a last name, posted a photo of Dawson in group chat messages seen by The Standard.
“This man pelted a homeless man with eggs on the side of [San Francisco Mercantile,]” Ann wrote in the WhatsApp group named Haight Crime & Safety. “Many people came to help the homeless man, and he’s okay. Cops notified and sent the images.”
On Tuesday, a man on nearby Belvedere Street pointed to eggshells on his blanket and told The Standard that the man in the video, Dawson, threw eggs at him while he was sleeping at the corner of Cole and Haight streets.
“I was just laying there and defending myself with a blanket,” said the man, who declined to give a name. “I was scared for a little bit. I had to think about it.”
Sergio Guillory, an employee at Haight & Cole Liquor, said he saw the homeless man covered in egg walk past the store on Monday night. Guillory confirmed the homeless man he saw was the same one who spoke with The Standard about the egg incident. He also said the man is known in the area for defecating between parked cars.
Dawson’s LinkedIn profile picture shows him wearing the same blue-checked jacket and white shirt combo that he is seen wearing in the footage.
The Standard contacted Dawson by phone, but he hung up before explaining his actions. A phone number that public records link to his wife, Kelly Dawson, was answered briefly.
“Are you a mental health doctor? Are you able to suggest a mental health doctor?” she said before hanging up the phone.
Police call logs show the incident happened at around 6 p.m. on the corner of Haight and Cole streets. The San Francisco Police Department confirmed that officers responded to a report of a battery in the area at 6:10 p.m.
The department said the victim didn’t report any injuries and declined to press charges. Officers later identified Dawson as the suspect and conducted a mental health evaluation after visiting his home.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, police said.
‘Fuck you and your $10 eggs!’
“Stop that! Stop that, bro! It’s not OK!” people said in the Reddit video, which moderators have since locked.
The bystanders tried to hold Dawson back as he repeatedly tossed eggs before returning to the open trunk of his Toyota Prius to reload from a 48-egg carton.
Another voice in the video glibly alluded to the high price of eggs.
“You’re a disgrace of a man! Fucking disgusting. Get out of here!” a woman yelled at Dawson. “Fuck you and your $10 eggs!”
When confronted, Dawson alleged a man hit him before yelling, “That man stole my eggs! He’s taken my eggs!”
The viral video also garnered well over a dozen jokes cracked on San Francisco’s Reddit page late Monday.
“In this economy?!” one poster wrote.
“Frankly, I’m impressed that he could even find the 48 packs,” another responded. “I can’t even get a dozen right now.”
Plus, there were lots of puns about the “eggonomy” and the in-demand grocery item being “too eggspensive” these days.