Stephen Ellison

2 Random Attempted Assaults Have Neighbors on Edge in SF

A San Francisco neighborhood is on edge this week after two random attempted assaults, one of which was caught on security video.

The footage from a home's Ring security camera shows a vehicle stop in the middle of the street. Then a group of men, some wearing Halloween masks, jump out and chase the victim down with a baseball bat.

One man says, while he was walking home, a group of men pulled up next to him Monday night on 26th street and asked him if he was Sammy. He told them he wasn't, and the car pulled to the corner, blocking his path. Several men then got out of the car and started chasing him. One had a baseball bat.

That incident happened on Jersey Street in San Francisco's Noe Valley. The man can be heard yelling for help as he runs away.

Another man, Matt Borg, said the same group tried to assault him minutes earlier just a few blocks away as he walked down 26th street.

"Three men exited the car, one man in a mask, white, spooky with an aluminum bat over his head, chasing after me," said Borg, who took off running while calling 911. "I thought there was a real possibility I was gonna be killed. One bad swing with a bat."

Borg said the men drove off but circled back as he was talking to a dispatcher. He ran again and screamed.

Patti Cole said she and her family heard the scream and looked outside but didn't see the emergency.

"I don't normally feel unsafe walking around, but I probably will now," Cole said.

Neighbors and Borg are feeling uneasy.

"All I know is there was intent to injure," Borg said.

Borg said as he ran away, he hit his lock button on his phone several times and that sounded an alarm and called 911. So as he ran away, he was telling a dispatcher exactly what was happening and where.

Police responded to both incidents and are investigating.

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