S.F. man stabbed by catcaller has history of kind acts

Ben Schwartz, 31, was seriously wounded when he askeda man to stop harassing his girlfriend in the Tenderloin on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. Ben Schwartz, 31, was seriously wounded when he askeda man to stop harassing his girlfriend in the Tenderloin on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. Photo: Courtesy / Miyoko Moody Photo: Courtesy / Miyoko Moody Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close S.F. man stabbed by catcaller has history of kind acts 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco man who was stabbed downtown by a catcaller harassing his girlfriend has a history of chivalry — he was the Good Samaritan who went out of his way to return a stolen bicycle to its owner earlier this year, his friends said Thursday.

Ben Schwartz, 31, was seriously injured Saturday morning while walking home from a gathering with his girlfriend and another friend, authorities said. Near the intersection of Larkin and Ellis streets at about 4:45 a.m., Schwartz asked a man who had been catcalling his girlfriend to stop.

Daniela Saavedra, a friend, said that the group had passed the man twice before and that he had catcalled Schwartz’s girlfriend each time.

“All he said was, 'Can you please just stop?’” Saavedra said. “The man then sort of trailed behind them, and that’s when he attacked.”

The man stabbed Schwartz nine times in the back, face, neck and arms, puncturing a lung, Saavedra said. She said gashes on his arms required about 60 stitches each, while the cuts to his back just missed his spinal cord.

The suspect hopped into a nearby silver sedan and got away. Police are still searching for him.

Saavedra said Schwartz is always looking out for people. In February, as reported in The Chronicle, he went out of his way to buy a bicycle on the street that he thought was stolen, then searched for its rightful owner. The owner, a freelance photographer for The Chronicle, had been desperately searching for it when Schwartz contacted him.

“I’ve had friends get their cars broken into, smashed-in windows, stolen laptops, stolen cell phone — there’s nothing I can do a lot of those times,” Schwartz said in February. “But this way, it was easy. It was safe, and it got him his bike back. ... I just wanted to do somebody a solid for once.”

“He definitely sticks up for women, for anyone really,” Saavedra said. “If you’re his friend, you’re his friend for life, and I’ve watched him just support many friends through many hard times. He’s just so kindhearted, and you can see that in everything that he does.”

Schwartz, who lives in the Tenderloin, is an advertising student at the Art Institute of California and a server at Crustacean on Nob Hill. He has been released from the hospital, Saavedra said, but is still recovering and in a lot of pain.

“It’s really hard to see how hard he’s worked to be in school and to have it all crash down suddenly,” she said. “He was so close to finishing school. He was doing amazing. I’m not sure when he knows he’ll get back to school or work right now.”

Schwartz’s friends have set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to support him.

Saavedra said she hopes the man who attacked Schwartz will be brought to justice — and removed from the streets, where he poses a danger to the public.

“Street harassment is definitely more dangerous than people think it is,” she said. “A point my fiance brought up was you know this isn’t the first time this man has stabbed someone, or acted out in this way. To be that angry and aggressive and mentally unstable, that is just terrifying to think about.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (415) 553-0123, call an anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444, or send a text to TIP411 with “SFPD” at the beginning of the message.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo