Man convicted of mugging 94-year-old theatergoer in SF

File photo of handcuffs on table. Close up of metal handcuffs File photo of handcuffs on table. Close up of metal handcuffs Photo: Rafe Swan / Getty Image Photo: Rafe Swan / Getty Image Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Man convicted of mugging 94-year-old theatergoer in SF 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

A man was convicted Wednesday of elder abuse stemming from a street robbery in San Francisco of a Napa woman and her 94-year-old mother, who was knocked to the ground and injured when they came into the city to see The Lion King.

Omar J. Breedlove, 47, was found guilty of second-degree robbery and elder abuse likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the district attorney’s office.

“Targeting the elderly is a cowardly act,” San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said. “We wish the victims a speedy recovery.”

On Nov. 19, the elderly woman and her 68-year-old daughter took a bus from Napa to San Francisco for a 2 p.m. showing of The Lion King at the Orpheum Theatre on Market Street, according to authorities.

They arrived in the city before the show and were going to a nearby restaurant for lunch when the assault occurred, officials said. As they walked, the daughter held both of their purses in her left hand while using her other to link arms with her mother — who walks with a cane.

Breedlove approached them from behind at Market and Hyde streets around noon and grabbed at the daughter’s purse, yanking her away from her mother. The force caused her mother to fall to the ground and suffer bruising and swelling in her right leg that has persisted since, officials said.

The daughter managed to keep the purses, but Breedlove took her Samsung cell phone, said Phoenix Streets, Breedlove’s attorney. A witness followed him and San Francisco police officers were able to take him into custody.

Streets said his client could potentially face up to six years in prison and will probably be denied probation because he has been convicted twice of felonies. His priors include petty theft and drug charges, he said.

“It’s pretty steep considering he has no history of violence,” Streets said. “He didn’t make any threats. He didn’t touch her.”

Breedlove was expected to be sentenced March 22.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno