SAN FRANCISCO—Surveillance footage released on Monday, August 22 depicts a drunk patron biting off a bartender’s finger last month in the Marina District at the Silver Clouds Restaurant and Karaoke Bar. The San Francisco Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect.
On July 17, at approximately 2:15 a.m. a bartender—who has not been identified—was closing up for the night at Silver Clouds Restaurant and Karaoke Bar, located at the 1900 block of Lombard Street, when he was assaulted and maimed by a customer who was drinking inside earlier that evening, according to reports.
At about 2 a.m., the suspect—who was shirtless—tried to re-enter the establishment and the bartender told him they were closed; then, he tried to climb through a small window and again, the bartender stopped him.
Upon being denied entry, the suspect became increasingly belligerent and began kicking and pulling the front door. The bartender went outside to stop him and the suspect attacked – hitting the victim in the face several times and bitiing his ring finger so hard that it severed at the knuckle, according to police. The suspect and several of his friends fled the scene.
“It was during that time that he was trying to restrain him that his hand was close to his mouth, and that’s when the suspect bit his finger off,” SFPD Officer Carlos Manfredi said in a statement.
The bartender was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for the injuries he sustained that included swollen eyes, contusions to the head, scrapes and an amputated finger.
“He was able to take his finger with him to the hospital. They tried to put it back on, but they weren’t able to save the finger. So now unfortunately this bartender now has some type of prosthetic finger to replace that,” Manfredi told ABC7.
Surveillance footage released by the SFPD shows the suspect just an hour before the incident where he is eating on the sidewalk and wearing a pink button-down shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.
In another surveillance video from the same night, the suspect takes off his shirt and begins playfully scuffling with a heavyset friend who’s wearing a leather jacket.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic man approximately 6 feet tall, weighing 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes; he is facing felony charges of assault and mayhem – which is defined as the intentional maiming of another person.
Police are asking anyone with any information to contact the SFPD at (415) 837-7395.
