Tourists hurt in mugging on iconic stretch of SF’s Lombard St.

LOMBARD/C/04DEC96/CD/LH--Lombard Street's crooked street is open to traffic after being closed off for a while. Liz Hafalia ALSO RAN: 02/21/2001 LOMBARD/C/04DEC96/CD/LH--Lombard Street's crooked street is open to traffic after being closed off for a while. Liz Hafalia ALSO RAN: 02/21/2001 Photo: LIZ HAFALIA, STAFF Photo: LIZ HAFALIA, STAFF Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Tourists hurt in mugging on iconic stretch of SF’s Lombard St. 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A pair of sightseers snapping photos of San Francisco’s famed crooked section of Lombard Street were attacked and robbed by two muggers, who assaulted them and took their cash and camera, police said Friday.

The incident occurred about 8:30 p.m. on the curvy part of Lombard Street, near where a tourist was shot and wounded last summer when he chased after robbers who stole his camera.

“There are a lot of tourists who frequent that area and visit. So, unfortunately, people take advantage of that,” said Officer Giselle Talkoff, a San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman.

Talkoff said the victims of Thursday night’s mugging were from out of town and sightseeing in the Russian Hill area when they were confronted on Lombard near Leavenworth Street.

One robber punched a 24-year-old woman in the face and yanked her purse out of her hands, police said. The second assailant then took a 52-year-old man’s camera and pushed him to the ground.

“Both had some injuries and were taken to the hospital in non-life-threatening condition,” Talkoff said.

She said the robbers fled on foot. The only description given was that they are both about 18 years old.

Police beefed up patrols of the area in August after a tourist from Thailand was shot in the shoulder by one of two robbers who jumped him around noon as he was taking photos of the meandering section of Lombard Street. Police said the victim was shot when he tried chase the robbers.

Following the shooting, the suspects jumped into a getaway car and sped away, but police spotted them and chased them over the Bay Bridge. They were arrested near the Emeryville-Oakland border.

Besides Lombard Street, criminals have recently been prowling other San Francisco tourist destination for victims. On May 21, a sightseer from San Mateo County taking photos on Twin Peaks was robbed of his camera by three men who pushed him to the ground and fled in a car.

Several other robberies have occurred on Twin Peaks over the past year. A woman was pepper sprayed and robbed of her purse in the scenic area in January by a man and woman working in tandem. In December, three French tourists were robbed and one of them, an 81-year-old man, was shoved to the ground and lost consciousness.

Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz