San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s police security detail was attacked Thursday night near the edge of the city’s drug-infested Tenderloin district, leaving one officer bleeding from the back of his head after a chaotic street confrontation.According to the New York Post, citing Mission Local, the incident occurred near Cedar Street around 6 p.m. The mayor was not injured.The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to the area of Cedar and Polk streets around 5:38 p.m. and arrested two men. Two police officers responsible for the mayor’s security were injured, but their lives were not life-threatening.A San Francisco Police Department officer working security for Lurie was left breathless and bleeding after hitting his head during a struggle with a suspect.Tony Phillips, who was booked on suspicion of murder in 2019 but never faced charges, was arrested in the incident.San Francisco County Jail booking logs show Phillips, 44, was being held on suspicion of threatening an administrative officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, petty theft, battery and assault on a police officer and resisting or obstructing an officer.Phillips was arrested in 2019 for allegedly fighting and stabbing a man near Polk Canyon near where he allegedly attacked Lurie’s security guard, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The district attorney reportedly declined to prosecute Phillips, citing insufficient evidence.The mayor was in a black SUV with the officer and a driver, who was also a police officer, and the three allegedly stopped the vehicle on the street. The injured officer told police that Lurie jumped out of the SUV and asked the group to leave.The officer said that at first the trio appeared to be complying with the rules, but the situation escalated when one man started “talking nonsense”. When the officer intervened and ordered the man to move away, the suspect initially backed away and then suddenly lunged at him.Police grabbed the man’s upper body, but the two fell to the ground during the scuffle. The officer fell backwards, hitting his head on the pavement and bleeding.Meanwhile, Lurie’s driver, also a police officer, was at the scene dealing with another man. The officer did not appear to be injured. It’s unclear whether the second man assaulted anyone, and the role of a third man named by police remains unclear.The suspect was handcuffed at the scene and repeatedly shouted: “Fk you!” as police arrested him. The second suspect tried to escape but was caught by police a short distance away.More than a dozen police officers swarmed the block and surrounded the two handcuffed suspects.Lurie watched the events unfold before leaving the scene and appeared shaken by the ordeal. The mayor told Mission Local the men tried to fight a police officer but declined to elaborate further.“There was an altercation tonight involving the mayor’s security detail. The mayor was not involved. We are grateful to the SFPD officers for their quick response and for keeping our city safe every day,” Lurie spokesman Charles Lutvak said.Louis Wong, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, praised the police response.“We are grateful to the police officers responsible for the mayor’s security who acted quickly and bravely to protect him under dangerous and unpredictable circumstances,” Huang said.“We wish the injured officer a speedy and full recovery and commend all involved for their bravery and decisive actions.”
