A San Francisco police officer was taken to the hospital last week after being rescued from an attack by a man who was allegedly making racially-motivated threats against Asians.
“The incident took place on Friday,” CBS San Francisco reported. “A law enforcement source says the 911 caller who reported him as a disturbance that day had called the day prior, stating that the suspect said ‘I specialize in killing Asian people.’”
Video of the incident shows the police officer approaching the man — who repeatedly claimed that he did not have any weapons on him — and telling him to turn around and place his hands on his head. It initially appeared as though the man was complying with the officer’s orders, but he quickly became agitated and began attacking the police officer. The man wrestled the female officer to the ground and attacked her. Within just a few moments, several men rushed to the officer’s aid and helped gain control of the situation until multiple police officers arrived on scene to arrest the man.
The man was identified by police as being 33-year-old Gerardo Contreras. ABC7 News reported that documents obtained by the local news station showed that “Contreras has a record of prior arrests, including aggravated assault, elder abuse and assaults on officers in other parts of California.”
1/2: Surveillance video captures man attacking @SFPD officer as she tries to see why he was allegedly ranting at Asian people near Clay & Kearny. Bystanders helped pull him off her until backup arrived. 📹: Asian Dawn. https://t.co/1ytjEWDvDF pic.twitter.com/Y1pmRH3H48
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) May 30, 2021
“Just like a human being being attacked, and also it’s like a police officer, civil servant, and third it looked like there was a weapon,” Andy Min, who rushed in to help the police officer, said. “I couldn’t tell but I saw it hit the ground, so I didn’t know if it was in control or not, but just felt like something needed to happen.”
Min added, “There was a point where he had tackled her and I was like okay this isn’t going on – or this isn’t going right, and just kind of jumped in.”
Michael Waldorf, who had just finished eating dinner with his family at a nearby restaurant, also rushed in to help.
“He’s a big guy, he was not letting go. He had a death grip on her. And he was not letting go,” Waldorf said. “I saw it as an emergency. She needed our help and she needed it right away.”
The San Francisco Police Officers Association released a statement on social media praising the men for rushing in to help the female police officer.
“We’ve seen a rise in violent attacks by homeless individuals, including attacks on police officers,” the union wrote on Twitter. “We are deeply grateful to these citizens who rushed to our officer’s aide. Our staffing shortage left this officer working alone instead of with a partner.”
Crime in San Francisco has skyrocketed over the last year which has led to two recall campaigns being launched against far-left San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.