MAN SUFFERS SERIOUS HEAD TRAUMA IN HAIGHT STREET FIGHT OVER MARIJUANA

A man allegedly fighting with another man over marijuana in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood on Thursday evening is suffering serious head trauma after he was knocked out by a punch to the face and subsequently hit his head on the ground, police said.

An employee at Haight Street Tobacco, located at 1827 Haight St. said the fight happened on the sidewalk just outside the store.

Police said the victim and the suspect, both described as men in their mid 20s to early 30s, were in a fight over the victim’s marijuana on Haight Street, just east of Golden Gate Park.

At about 7:25 p.m., the suspect threw a punch, striking the victim in the face and knocking him out.

The victim fell to the ground, hitting his head on the cement, police said.

The suspect fled in an unknown direction prior to the arrival of police and has not been arrested.

Police said the victim was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

According to the Haight Street Tobacco employee, the store has video surveillance footage of area where the fight occurred and that they intend to hand it over to police to assist in the investigation.

FIREFIGHTERS SEARCH FOR HOT SPOTS IN WALLS, ATTIC OF SMOKY LONE MOUNTAIN HOME

Firefighters remain at a two-story home that had smoke billowing from its attic in San Francisco’s Lone Mountain neighborhood this afternoon, a fire department spokeswoman said.

San Francisco fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said the smoke was reported at about 3:20 p.m. and that firefighters arrived at the building to see smoke coming from the rear of the home in the 700 block of Arguello Boulevard, about a block and a half north of Golden Gate Park, Talmadge said.

Fire crews did not detect flames but were able to see smoke coming from the attic and walls.

She said neighbors reported seeing roofing work done on the home earlier in the day and suspect it to be the cause.

Firefighters remain on scene and are working to open up the walls in search of smoke.

Talmadge said no injuries have been reported and the cause remains under investigation.

POLICE INVESTIGATE VEHICLE COLLISION THAT STRUCK, SERIOUSLY INJURED PANHANDLE RUNNER

A vehicle versus pedestrian collision that left a runner seriously injured in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood on Thursday morning may have resulted after the pedestrian entered the crosswalk against a red light, a police spokesman said today.

The vehicle struck the pedestrian around 9:45 a.m. Thursday while the pedestrian was crossing at the intersection of Masonic Avenue and Oak Street near the Panhandle, according to fire spokeswoman Jen Balestrieri.

San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza said, based on the initial police investigation, that the pedestrian was determined to be at fault for running out against a red light.

Esparza said the traffic light was green for vehicles traveling on Masonic Avenue at the time of the collision.

However, Natalie Burdick, a spokeswoman for Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian advocacy group, said that the runner, believed to be a man in his 30s, was struck by the driver of a vehicle turning from Oak Street left onto northbound Masonic Avenue.

Balestrieri said the pedestrian was transported to the hospital via ambulance in critical condition.

Burdick said that both Masonic Avenue and Oak Street are high injury corridors and that at least five other serious injuries have occurred at the intersection since 2008.

Following the collision, Josselyn Eccleston, a nearby resident who frequently uses the crosswalk, said she was driving through the intersection when she saw a crowd of people around a man lying on the ground.

Eccleston said she saw people out of their cars and then saw the runner in his running shorts, face down on the ground, not moving.

“That intersection is awful,” Eccleston said. “I have two small kiddos and I’m so scared crossing it. People are super aggressive or just don’t look.”

Following the collision, nearby residents took to Nextdoor.com, a private online social network for neighborhoods, and aired their frustrations with the intersection.

Neighbors said it is a popular intersection for runners because of the proximity to Golden Gate Park, but that pedestrians in the crosswalk are often at risk from vehicles turning from Oak Street left onto northbound Masonic Avenue.

San Francisco police are continuing to investigate the cause of the collision.