Was it a Russian Hill altercation attempted mugging, or just a weird interaction that turned violent? The San Francisco Police Department is (quite rightly) unwilling to speculate on motive, but confirms that as of this morning, a dastardly mug thief continues to roam the streets of SF.

According to police, a 30-year-old man was standing at the corner of Green and Polk Streets Wednesday at 12:53 in the afternoon when a man in his 40s to 50s walked up and asked him for a cigarette.

When the younger man said he didn't have any, the older fellow "became agitated," police say, and "tried to take" the younger guy's backpack.

Things heated up when the smoke-seeker punched the backpack wearer in the face, police say, and they ended up "fighting on the ground." The scrum ended when the older man "snatched" his victim's "silver coffee mug" and fled east on Green Street.

The victim, police say, wasn't injured in the brawl. As of Thursday morning, the whereabouts of the mug thief remains unknown.