A 52-year-old man was pistol-whipped and robbed of his wallet, watch, and cellphone on New Year's Eve in the Fillmore District.

The incident, posted in a video by the Twitter account Asian Crime Report and then subsequently by ABC 7 reporter Dion Lim, happened on Friday afternoon on O'Farrell Street between Fillmore and Steiner streets. The victim can be seen on the ground, while the thieves appear to be trying to get his watch off of him — Lim says it was a Rolex.

"The man told me in Mandarin he went to the doctor since his head split open in one area & he needed stitches," Lim tweeted.

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This all happened just beside the parklet belonging to State Bird Provisions offshoot Anchovy Bar, and someone in an apron comes out from the restaurant and appears to be shooed back inside by one of the armed thieves with a gun.

Restaurant owner and chef Stuart Brioza tells SFist that he indeed saw the attack, and says, "Tragic. We feel terrible for the victim... never seen anything like that before!"

Also, the man appears to try to run away from the thieves but gets tackled just across the street.

Lim also reported on a couple in their 70s who were assaulted and robbed in Oakland's Chinatown last week.


This assault in the Fillmore came during a somewhat violent weekend in which there were homicides on both sides of the Bay, including one in the Richmond District on Friday night.

And on Sunday, officers in Milpitas chased after a suspect who was later allegedly found to have his former girlfriend's remains in the back of the car he was driving.