Shooting At San Francisco China Basin Bar Leads To Police Chase, Crash
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police in San Francisco are investigating reports of shots fired inside a China Basin bar Sunday night that led to a brief pursuit and vehicle collision, according to authorities.
A police spokesperson said at around 7 p.m. officers responded to a report of shots fired at Polo Grounds, a bar at Third and King Streets.
Authorities said no one at the bar was shot.
Ravi Sharma was eating dinner when he heard gunshots at the bar.
"It was like, 'Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!' I just saw people running. I heard gunshots and then we kind of like ran into the kitchen," explained Sharma.
According to Michael Bowens, a bartender at Polo Grounds, the suspect was thrown out of the bar for after getting into a fight over a woman. He then came back in with a gun and fired 4 or 5 shots, at least one of them was at eye level.
"I saw the altercation when he got asked to leave, he got kicked out, and then he came back" said Bowens. "The door guy had the door held closed, saw the gun, let the handle go. Then the guy came in and popped off the rounds and then left. There was one [shot] that went through the window that was my head level."
Arriving officers got to the scene and chased the suspect about two blocks. The suspect crashed his car into another vehicle at Townsend and Third Streets.
Video shot by KPIX cameras showed two vehicles -- a dark grey sedan and a red SUV -- that had been in a collision.
Hamid Sharfi told KPIX the suspect crashed into his car.
"He came very fast," said Sharfi.
The suspect suspect then veered into a pole. He was injured, but still managed to run away. Police officers chased him on foot and caught up with him at Fifth Street and Bluxome.
The suspect was arrested and taken by ambulance to the hospital for injuries he sustained in the crash. He was not seriously hurt. A firearm was recovered, police said.
Police said it still wasn't clear if the incident related to the Super Bowl. The suspect vehicle had at least one 49ers banner attached to it.
Patrons of Polo Grounds were lucky no one was injured.
"I'm just happy nobody was [hurt]. It could have been a lot worse," said Bowens.
