A pair of thugs bashed a 6-foot-2 man at the back of his head with what the sufferer later described as a “steel” object, knocking him down on a California avenue. Sadly for them, he received up — and that’s when the violent suspects was cowards.
Richard Titus, a California father of three, had simply parked his automotive within the Decrease Pac Heights neighborhood of San Francisco on a Sunday night with plans to take a brief stroll to a good friend’s house, The Blaze reported. Sadly, issues didn’t go as deliberate. As an alternative, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than Titus, who’s lived in San Francisco for years, was brutally assaulted by a pair of thugs. Fortunately, he’d flip the tables, however not earlier than receiving a devastating blow to his head.
Whereas strolling up a hilly avenue in San Francisco, Titus observed footsteps behind him, however being 6-foot-2, he doesn’t spook simply. “I used to be strolling up the road, minding my very own enterprise, I heard some footsteps behind me, after which out of the blue ‘bam’ — I received hit at the back of the top with one thing steel [and] went down on all fours,” he advised KPIX CBS. Unbeknownst to Titus on the time, that blow left a big wound, however that didn’t cease him from getting up rapidly and defending himself.
After leaping to his ft, Titus took a take a look at the 2 males, who he was later in a position to describe as having a darker complexion and being solely about 5 ft tall. Each wore hoodies, and at the least one was holding a weapon. The second gave the impression to be reaching for Titus’s wristwatch, a 1968 Rolex Daytona, in accordance with KRON4. That’s when Titus took issues into his personal arms. “So, I punched him, as you do,” Richard Titus recalled with a chuckle. “The one not holding one thing was nearer to me, so I took a swing at him.”
That was sufficient to show the violent suspects into cowards. Titus believes his response shocked his attackers, who probably figured they’d lose this struggle, and scared them sufficient to run away as each rapidly fled the scene. Sadly, the harm was already performed. “My mind has type of damaged up my reminiscence of the night, and that’s what occurs with traumatic mind accidents,” Titus admitted, explaining that though he remembers the assault fairly vividly, the very last thing he clearly remembers earlier than the assault is leaving a brunch round 5 or 6 p.m.
After the violent ordeal, the following factor Titus recalled was strolling up the steps to his good friend’s residence, the place he was staying, with blood dripping down his again from a head damage. “I didn’t truly understand how dangerous the damage was, and standing on a avenue nook within the chilly, my head was hurting, I used to be bleeding,” Titus recalled. “I simply wished to get house and bandage my head and go to mattress.”
Anticipating a delayed police response, Titus didn’t name 911, however the subsequent morning, when awakened with blood throughout his pillowcase, he determined it could be clever to have the damage checked out. Titus went to the emergency room at California Pacific Medical Middle, the place the six-inch gash to the again of his head was closed with the assistance of 5 staples. Unsurprisingly, he additionally suffered a extreme concussion with fragmented reminiscences surrounding the assault.
After discovering the gash to the person’s head and listening to his story, the hospital employees required Titus to file a police report, which his insurance coverage would additionally want. He ended up ready round till about 11 p.m., however no officers got here throughout his 10-hour hospital keep. Feeling dissatisfied and discouraged, Titus took to social media, posting photographs of his damage and the story of his assault on-line. Not lengthy after making the submit, he says a few police captains lastly reached out to him to assist file the report.
“I’ve lived in San Francisco on and off for all these years, and I’ve by no means been mugged earlier than, I’ve positively by no means been assaulted earlier than by strangers. It felt slightly scary given I’m within the metropolis I really like,” Titus, who was anticipated to want a number of weeks of restoration time, mentioned. Whereas he was grateful to be secure and that he was in a position to defend himself, he hopes to see the town enhance its police presence and reply sooner to crimes like this one.
“I’d prefer to see some motion from legislation enforcement and the town,” Titus mentioned. “I believe there must be a tighter relationship between the mayor’s workplace and the enforcement, and the third factor is I’d like criminals to be held to account,” he added. “I all the time felt secure in San Francisco, even within the harmful years, 15 years in the past,” Titus admitted. “However even earlier than this expertise, it feels extra menacing, and the police response appears slower.”
Along with hoping that incidents like this can result in a greater police presence and response, Richard Titus additionally urged individuals to be extra conscious of their environment. He additionally felt it essential to notice that he was sober throughout your complete incident. Actually, he’s been sober for the final 30 years, he mentioned. Whereas we’re happy with him for that, it’s quite unhappy {that a} sufferer of violence felt the necessity to preemptively protect his personal repute in opposition to one other kind of assault after already being bashed within the head throughout an unprovoked assault.
