A brave woman steps in to stop a 74-year-old Chinese male victim from being further attacked by a suspect

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman, who witnessed a 74-year-old monolingual Chinese American immigrant man being violently assaulted on Third street in the Bayview neighborhood, bravely stepped in to assist and stopped the suspect from further attacks on the victim.

The victim is Z.L. Kwong who immigrated to San Francisco from China over 20 years ago and has been a naturalized U.S. citizen for over a decade. Kwong was a victim of anti-Asian hate and violence multiple times during the past decade living in the city.

He told Wind Newspaper in an interview that he did not feel safe living in San Francisco based on the experiences he and his family had as victims of crime and violence.

Wind Newspaper is not publishing the victim's real name due to his situation as a crime victim. Kwong hoped the city would do more to protect members of the Asian community, in particular the elderly Asian Americans who have been frequently victimized on San Francisco streets.

The February 10 incident was Kwong's 4th or 5th time being assaulted by suspects on city's streets. Kwong was treated by paramedics for his injuries at the scene in the latest incident but refused to be sent to the hospital.

Kwong wanted to thank the brave woman who came to assist him and told the suspect to leave. He said he did not remember the fearless and courageous actions taken by the woman witness because he was knocked out almost unconscious on the ground. He first learned about the heroic acts from Wind Newspaper by referring to the video posted by Tenderloinactivities on social media platform X.

Tenderloinactivities is a San Francisco street journalist covering street crime and providing raw video footage via social media since September 2024.

"Bayview Activities: An elder Asian man was mugged at 3rd & Newcomb in Bayview, but a brave woman stepped in to defend him —— turning what could have been a robbery into a failed attempt. Stay alert and look out for one another," Tenderloinactivities wrote on X with the video footage.

The video shows Kwong was continuously assaulted by the suspect on the ground after he was struck to the ground. Kwong kept calling out loud for help for his life in Chinese.

The video also shows a brave woman walking up to assist Kwong. As a result, the suspect stood up and stopped attacking Kwong.

When the woman walked closer to Kwong, the suspect stepped back from Kwong. It could be heard in the video that the woman said to the suspect, “Excuse me, no, no.”

The woman further said, “Let him go, let him go.” The suspect was seen stepping back more from the victim and finally walked away from the scene. The good samaritan did not stay at the scene until police arrived.

"I am very thankful and appreciative of her courage to save my life after knowing about the video [of the incident]. I remembered a woman was there. She seemed like also a Chinese American woman. I did not know what she did for me. I did not understand English. My mind was not clear at that moment because I was knocked to the ground," said Kwong, who did not have a chance to speak to her at the scene.

Kwong said he was trying to call 911 by himself at the scene, but he was not able to speak English to communicate with the dispatcher. So instead he called his son who called 911 to report the incident. Police officers arrived at a later time.

Kwong recalled what happened on February 10, 2025, at approximately 5:38 pm. He said he just got off a Muni bus and walked to his apartment building prior to the attack.

When he tried to open the main entrance door at the building where he resides on the 4600 block of 3rd Street in Bayview, he was struck by an African American man in his 30s from behind multiple times that caused him to fall on the ground.

Kwong also believed the suspect would try to rob him by looking for money in his pockets. He did not lose any cash or property in the incident.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) did not release any information about the brave woman witness. SFPD provided a statement to the inquiry and wrote, "These kinds of attacks on our most vulnerable residents will never be tolerated in San Francisco, and the SFPD is working diligently to make an arrest in this case."

Kwong shared his experience as a crime victim multiple times in San Francisco. "It is an affordable housing facility for seniors. I just moved into my apartment about a month ago. Almost half of the tenants in the same building are Chinese and Asian seniors. How could I feel safe to live in the Bayview and the city?" said Kwong, who had been attacked several times on the streets in the city in the past decade.

Kwong has a son and a daughter. His daughter is still in China waiting for many years to immigrate to San Francisco on a family reunion petition. Kwong was employed as a porter before he retired.

Kwong has always been a renter moving around the city since he came to San Francisco. In the past, he lived in Visitacion Valley where he was robbed and assaulted in different incidents. He was also attacked unprovoked by a white man on Clay Street in Chinatown in 2019. "Not only myself, my son was also a victim of crime being assaulted in San Francisco," Kwong added.

Before moving into the senior housing apartment at Bayview in January 2025, Kwong lived in the Sunset District. Kwong said he knew the crime situation in Bayview and nearby neighborhoods, but he had no other choices. He hoped to move out after the latest attack.

Bayview has been known within the Chinese community as an unsafe neighborhood due to a series of high-profile cases involving violent attacks against elderly Chinese residents. These incidents have resulted in severe injuries and even fatalities. The recent incidents include the assault of a 71-year-old woman who was attacked from behind while on a morning walk on Gilman Street in March 2024, and the tragic death of 63-year-old Yan Fang Wu, who had only recently moved to Bayview for a month, after being pushed to the ground at 3rd and Egbert Streets in July 2023.