San Francisco business owner seriously injured in attack outside shop

SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco business owner is suffering from serious injuries after being attacked outside his shop in SOMA.

The brazen encounter is caught on camera.

Mark Sackett owns the building at the corner of Howard and Moss, built in the 1920s, where the San Francisco Examiner was once printed.

He has a collection of printing presses.

Today, the historic building is home to The Box SF, which includes an antique store and an event venue.

But the neighborhood comes with its share of problems.

"We’re dealing with crap every day," Sackett said.

Sackett’s surveillance camera captured a man wearing a pink hoodie, who had just left his soup container in front of the business.

"I says, ‘hey man. If you’re going to leave, do you mind just tossing that in the garbage can?" Sackett asked. "And he just turns, and he’s like ‘f. you."

The man in pink then went right for Sackett.

"And then he throws the soup towards me," Sackett said, but after being stabbed about two years ago nearby, he wasn’t taking any chances. "I’m not waiting for somebody to punch me or cut me with a knife again. I’ve been through that already down here."

Sackett sprang into action and tried to push the guy away.

But the 66-year-old had a boot on his leg for a broken foot.

"We both go down," Sackett recalled.

The soup slinger got right back up and started swinging.

Sackett’s friend stepped in and they both wrestled the guy to the ground and held him there until police arrived.

"And they said, ‘we think he’s really high or drunk, we don’t know which."

San Francisco police say the man was arrested for assault and cited. 

Sackett said he knows of recurring crime in the area which has his employees keeping pepper spray handy, and the issue isn’t going away.

According to San Francisco Police, between the SOMA and Tenderloin districts from May 29 to December 4, officers made nearly 1,700 arrests through the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, and took 110 kilograms off the streets, including nearly 60 kilograms of fentanyl.

"We have got to get the drugs off the street and the drug dealers off the street," Sackett said. "I think that’s paramount above everything else."

As far as his injuries are concerned, x-rays reveal two of the steel rods in his foot broke in half during the sidewalk attack, which will require surgery to fix. He also had cuts, bruises, and a lump on the back of his head.