SF Chinatown shopkeeper, 86, fends off intruder with bamboo stick

San Francisco resident Thomas Baker, 49, was arrested after police said he tried to attack an 86-year-old store owner with a knife. San Francisco resident Thomas Baker, 49, was arrested after police said he tried to attack an 86-year-old store owner with a knife. Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close SF Chinatown shopkeeper, 86, fends off intruder with bamboo stick 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

An 86-year-old San Francisco store owner defended his Chinatown business from an intruder armed with a knife by beating him back with a bamboo stick on Sunday, officials said.

A 49-year-old suspect, Thomas Baker of San Francisco, was creating a disturbance in the store on the 700 block of Grant Avenue about 3:51 p.m. when the octogenarian owner tried to get him to leave, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

Baker responded by punching the store owner repeatedly in the back of the head, police said.

The store owner then noticed Baker was holding a knife, according to police. He grabbed a bamboo stick and defended himself, hitting the intruder until he dropped the knife and ran from the store, police said.

Baker was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault, elder abuse and violating probation, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman.

He was on probation for a prior charge of assault with a deadly weapon, Andraychak said.

The store owner sustained a head injury from the attack but refused medical treatment, according to police.

“Fortunately, the victim was not injured too badly, it would seem,” Andraychak said.