Officials have released surveillance video showing the moment a chef featured in a Netflix show was forced to defended herself when a homeless man began physically assaulting her in a San Francisco liquor store.
Wendy Drew, who appeared in the Netflix series You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, was accosted on September 1 in a liquor store in downtown San Francisco, according to the New York Post.
Drew told the media that a man walking a dog began calling her the “N” word.
“I said, ‘Why are you calling me that? Why?’ Then he turns and starts hitting me on the head. He punched me like three times on the head. I’m like, you’re not going to get away with hitting me,” Drew said.
The fight ended up bursting into the liquor store where surveillance video captured more of the action.
“I basically had him in a bear hug. I had my legs around him, and he kept trying to get away,” Drew explained. “His dog comes by. I thought the dog wanted to bite me, but the poor thing was just licking my face. I loosened my grip, and that’s when he started repeatedly punching me in the face.”
The San Francisco Police Dept. later identified the man as Irvin Rivera-Lara, 31, a homeless man with a violent criminal record.
The video shows the attacker holding Drew down and repeatedly punching her in the face and head as a bystander tries to pepper spray the violent man.
Drew regains her feet at one point in the video as Rivera-Lara tries to prevent her from leaving the store.
The woman said that the attack was a complete surprise.
“He just looked like someone who was taking his dog for a walk,” Drew insisted. “It turned out he was homeless. It didn’t seem like he had any mental issues at face value.”
Drew was left with severe injuries with a blackened eye, gashes to her face, and other bruises and abrasions.
The chef said she had to get a tetanus shot because the man was dirty and homeless, and added, “I also got a concussion and a broken nose. It may require surgery; they are not sure yet.”
Rivera-Lara was arrested last Thursday and charged with assault likely to cause great bodily injury and providing false information to an officer. He was also hit with a hate crime charge.
The suspect had been arrested and charged with attacking a sandwich shop owner who reportedly confronted him for urinating outside the restaurant.
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