A surveillance video captured a crazed attacker violently smashing in the left side of a homeless man’s skull in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
The blow knocked the man, known only as Robert, off the stool that he was sitting on, while minding his own business unaware of the threat that was about to be leveled on him. Officer Carlos Manfredi of the San Francisco Police Department told KPIX 5, “He hit him so hard that the pipe literally fell out of his hand.”
A surveillance camera across the street from where the attack occurred recorded the incident. The bar owner of nearby Gangway Bar, Jung Lee, cleaned up Robert’s blood and helped him tend to his wounds. “I let him use my restroom, I treated him…give him a couple of bucks when he asked me and I gave him a drink,” Lee said.
A Tenderloin resident, Cheryl Anderson, described Robert as “a good guy. He’s homeless, but he doesn’t start trouble.” Manfredi agreed with Anderson’s take on Robert. “He always had a smile on his face. No matter how bad the situation, or no matter how bad the weather is, or how hungry he could’ve been,” he added.
Robert was admitted to San Francisco General Thursday and is up and talking after the assault. Officers believe that the attack by the stranger was premeditated. There were a number of surveillance cameras in the vicinity, so police hope to gather more information on the alleged assailant.