SAN FRANCISCO – When a masked man tried to take a customer’s backpack at Carlin’s Cafe on Friday morning, employee Nick Grant felt he had to intervene.
“Luckily I came with a cart, hit him with a cart, and then from there we just started fighting. He bear-maced me, we rolled around on the ground for a little bit and I held him until the cops came,” said Grant.
The scuffle was caught on the coffee shop’s surveillance camera.
Another customer even stepped in to help, and Grant held the man down for seven minutes before police arrived.
San Francisco police said the man is 42-year-old Amir Moner of Concord. He was booked into the San Francisco County Jail for attempted robbery and other charges related to this incident, as well as active warrants for other counties.
“I’m a little sore this morning. I’m still coughing out bear mace. But I’m good,” said Grant on Saturday morning as he was back at work making coffee. “I’m not going to let anybody like that stop me from doing what I love.”
Some customers noticed the small cut on Grant’s head, one even gave him a hug. Another customer, who works at the Black Heart tattoo shop down the street, came in to show support after seeing the video on social media.
“I think it makes you happy that there’s someone who cares about someone who could’ve been a stranger to him, his backpack or whatever it was. I think that’s pretty cool,” said Alejandra Ramirez.
Grant said he has a background in security and combat training, so he was able to step in. He said that unfortunately, crime like this isn’t new in this neighborhood, and they have had a bad history with police response times.
“I’m just happy I was there. You know it’s one of those things that folks can look away in certain situations, or you can have the moment to act, and I want people to feel more empowered to act,” said Grant.
