A thrown cigarette was the catalyst in a Market Street confrontation that sent a man to the hospital Monday evening.

It was 6:44 p.m. Monday, near the intersection of Market and Jones Streets. A 52-year-old man sat at the Muni stop, waiting for the bus.

Suddenly, police say, "someone threw a cigarette to him." When the man tried to deflect the thrown butt, his movement "accidentally hit" a nearby man in his 20s, according to the San Francisco Police Department report on the incident.

The man who was hit appeared to be in his 20s, police say. He did not take kindly to the bumping, and threw the older man "into the side of a stationary bus, causing injury."

The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries police say are not life-threatening. His assailants fled on foot, according to the SFPD, and were last seen headed west on Market Street.