The owner of a historic candy store owner in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood is in a hospital after being assaulted on the street outside her store.
Shaw's Candy and Ice cream store, a West Portal favorite since 1931, was closed early Wednesday after the owner and manager were brutally attacked.
Security camera video from a spa next door shows a glimpse of what happened. The video shows a man lunge at and then push Shaw's owner Diana Zogaric. Seconds later, he heads toward her store.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“I just heard a loud scream and I was like ‘what?’” said Richard Hsu, owner of Rhax Gym.
Hsu owns Rhax gym across from Shaw's. He came outside after passersby had tackled and restrained the man. Then, police arrived and took him into custody.
“We are just happy we caught the guy” he said. "I’ve seen this gentleman looking around for a couple weeks actually and just looked a little bit suspicious.”
Shaw's manager told NBC Bay Area the man entered the store and punched her in the face. The owner who was pushed suffered more serious injuries and went to the emergency room. A customer was also attacked.
Deidre Von Rock, the president of the West Portal Merchants Association, says she is seeing crime getting worse in the area.
"But this one is particularly galling, an attack on a female small business owner," she said.
Earlier Wednesday morning, someone broke into Little Original Joe's pizza place and stole cash from the registers.
“There are so many wonderful things about San Francisco that make it San Francisco, and everyone agrees primarily it's the neighborhoods. If we're not safe in our neighborhoods, where are we safe? Something has to be fixed,” Von Rock said.
NBC Bay Area reached out to San Francisco police for details on the incident and the person in custody but did not hear back.
