Woman attacked by stranger at San Francisco's Ocean Beach

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - A San Francisco woman is recovering on Tuesday night after being assaulted at Ocean Beach over the weekend while celebrating her daughter's friends' birthday.

She says a man approached their picnic, took some of their food and then provokingly became violent. 

Police say the man, 46-year-old Stephen Miller, then grabbed a soda can and hurled it at the victim's face.

“It was like getting hit by a prized fighter. I flew and I staggered and then I fell and then I just lost consciousness,” Karla Flemmings said. 

Karla Flemmings is recovering from a broken nose and serious eye injury after being assaulted while she was at a birthday picnic Saturday afternoon.

San Francisco police say the 46-year-old man approached the group of mothers and daughters, took some of their food, and began tossing it into the sand.

Soon after, unprovoked, Miller grabbed a soda can and hurled it at Flemmings face, which knocked her down and out.

“When I got into the emergency room, that's what they were focused on, making sure they could save the eye,” Flemmings said. 

Flemming's friend Sharon Tetlow rushed Karla to the hospital and witnessed everything that happened after the attack.

“Took two policemen to arrest and restrain this person. He was very violent,” Tetlow said.

Tetlow says this assault of her friend amplifies some of the issues going on in the city. 

“If this person has as Karla said priors this person needs to be dispatched, you know we have good conservancy rules which are not being deployed,”

Tetlow said. “I think we need to hold our city officials to addressing safety for people as well as care and safety for maybe some of the more vulnerable people on the street. I don't think we should be sacrificing reasonable safety for families on a beach.”

As Flemmings recovers, she shares the same concerns and is just thankful it was her who was hit and not one of the young girls or another family nearby.

Flemmings says she plans to go to Miller's arraignment on Wednesday to advocate for the safety of others in the city.

“Anybody capable of that kind of violence on the street, at a beach, around families, around children that's a concern for me,” Flemmings said.

from KRON4 https://ift.tt/mRZk2Dt