Two men have been charged in connection with an altercation with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood last week, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Tony Shervaughn Phillips and Abraham Simon were charged following the scuffle that started around 5:30 p.m. Thursday as two San Francisco police officers providing security for the mayor were driving north on Larkin Street and stopped at Cedar Street because of a group of people blocking the roadway, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Lurie and an officer got out of the car to talk to the group and try to get them to move, and Phillips then allegedly became argumentative and stepped toward the mayor, prompting an officer to intervene.
During the resulting altercation, the officer pushed Phillips, who fell down but got up and tried to tackle the officer, and eventually lifted him up and slammed him to the ground, causing the officer to suffer a large laceration and concussion, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
As a second officer intervened, Simon allegedly grabbed him and refused directions to get back, prosecutors said. The two men were eventually arrested, and the mayor was not injured.
Phillips was charged with felony resisting an executive officer, assault on a peace officer, and violating a court order preventing him from loitering within 150 yards of Larkin and Cedar streets. He was set for arraignment Tuesday afternoon at the Hall of Justice.
Simon was charged with resisting, delaying, and obstructing a peace officer and is set to be arraigned April 6, prosecutors said.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association released a statement last week about the altercation.
“We are grateful that the officers assigned to the mayor’s security detail acted swiftly and courageously to protect him in a dangerous and unpredictable situation,” the union said.
Mayoral spokesperson Charles Lutvak said, “We appreciate our SFPD officers for their quick response and for keeping our city safe every day.”