Around 9:45 a.m. Monday, San Francisco police officers on a team that addresses homelessness were checking out encampments when they came across Tony Phillips at Larkin and Cedar streets, according to SFPD. The officers arrested him for the alleged violation of a court order: Phillips, 44, was released from custody last week, with an order to stay away from the intersection, where an encounter with Lurie and an officer in his security detail escalated into a fight.
Phillips was charged with assault and other charges following the encounter. He pleaded not guilty.
After reviewing video of the scuffle, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Sylvia Husing said Phillips was “violently assaulted” during the encounter and ordered his release from custody. She also issued an order for him to stay-away from the area where the fight occurred.
Phillips and others were blocking the road; Phillips on a sidewalk with his legs extended into the street while another man was sitting in the street, according to prosecutors.
Lurie and his security detail were traveling through the area when Lurie asked the driver to stop the car, prosecutors said in court records. Lurie and an officer got out, and Lurie asked the group to move out of the roadway.
Prosecutors said Phillips became “argumentative” and “aggressive.” He then moved toward Lurie before the officer stepped in front of the mayor. According to prosecutors, Phillips then told the officer, “Bruce Lee I’ll kick your ass!”
The officer then shoved Phillips, who fell back before standing back up to fight with the officer. During the tussle, Phillips took the officer to the ground. The officer suffered a large cut and concussion, according to prosecutors. They said the officer shoved Phillips “to defend himself and create distance.”
Security footage obtained by the Chronicle showed the shove and subsequent tussle, though the video did not include audio.
After Phillips’ initial court appearance, his attorney blamed Lurie for the confrontation and called on the mayor to ask prosecutors to drop the case. Attorney Ivan Rodriguez said Lurie created the tense situation when he asked his security detail to stop and engage with Phillips. Rodriguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Lurie told reporters he was concerned about the men he saw in the street and stopped to see what was going on and ask them to move along. He said he was concerned for pedestrians and drivers, too.
Husing released Phillips over the objections of Assistant District Attorney Erin Loback, who argued it was imperative to keep Phillips in custody to ensure he’d show up to future hearings. Loback referenced five other ongoing cases against Phillips in which he failed to appear in court seven times in the past 10 months. Phillips was charged with illegal lodging and possession of drug paraphernalia after police responded to complaints about him in at the same intersection where the fight with the bodyguard occurred.
Rodriguez countered that none of Phillips’ cases warranted detention. He added that Phillips justifiable and legally defended himself after the bodyguard “violently shoved” him.
Phillips was previously ordered not to loiter in the area, though Husing said the previous order was vague. Raising concerns about Phillips’ repeated “trouble” in the area, she issued the stay-away order at Loback’s request.