Two men are set to be arraigned today on criminal charges after a physical altercation with members of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail.
The incident occurred Thursday evening in the Tenderloin district. According to a police report, Lurie was driving through the neighborhood when he spotted a group of men gathered on the sidewalk. He ordered his driver to pull over and exited the vehicle.
“Mayor Lurie addressed the group and requested that they move along, as they were blocking the roadway,” according to a witness. One of the men, Tony Phillips, “became immediately argumentative, stating that he did not have to move.”
Lurie told the men that his bodyguard, Joel Aguayo, was a San Francisco police officer. Phillips was unfazed.
“I’ll Bruce Lee kick your ass,” Phillips allegedly told Aguayo.
At that point, witnesses say Aguayo shoved Phillips to the ground, sparking a physical brawl that was caught on video. Lurie’s driver, Nicholas Boccio, stepped in to help Aguayo. Another man allegedly attacked Boccio, who pulled out a firearm. Uniformed officers then arrived to provide backup.
The mayor was not harmed, but both officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to SFPD.
Phillips will be arraigned on charges of threatening an officer, inflicting great bodily injury, and contempt of court for violating a stay-away order from the alley. The other man, Abraham Simon, is facing charges of interfering with an officer.
Read more at the San Francisco Standard.