Terrifying video shows the moment a San Francisco 49ers fan was brutally run over by a gang of dirt bike riders as he was attempting to buy beer from a local gas station.
Ariel Cruz decided to walk to the Gulf station on February 11 at around 11pm after running out of booze while watching the football team’s overtime defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs when he noticed a gang of dirt bike riders in the area, the San Francisco Standard reports.
One then allegedly punched him in the mouth splitting his lip on both sides, and video caught by a bystander showed the brazen gang started to taunt him – with dirt bikes and an ATV racing around him.
Cruz, who was still wearing a red 49ers jersey, could be seen waving his arms frantically as two cops with their batons drawn try to talk to him, before ultimately deciding to call for backup.
But the ATV then runs over Cruz at a high rate of speed, knocking him to the ground.
The quad bike then hits a post in front of one of the gas pumps with such force that the rider is thrown from his seat.
He then appears to get up and run from the two police officers at the scene – who watched them get away – as Cruz struggles to get back to his feet, stumbling as he stands.
Cruz said he suffered a knee injury and a concussion in the aftermath and could not walk for more than a month – leaving him unable to do his job as a painter.
‘I just remember my head was split open. I had staples in my head,’ the victim told KTVU. ‘My knee was really inflamed, I couldn’t walk on it.
‘My lip was busted on the inside and outside. I had a slash on my lip.’
Julian Ulloa Gomez, 31, was finally arrested for the incident on August 29, according to KRON.
He is now facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon – namely the Yamaha FX quad bike he was on – against an officer, as well as filing a false police report.
Police said Ulloa Gomez almost ran over one of the officers on the scene as well, noting that the San Francisco Police Department was already at the gas station at the time of the attack conducting a different investigation.
Ulloa Gomez was booked into jail on August 30 at 12.48pm and has already appeared in court to face the charges.
Following the hearing, Cruz said, police had to give him a ride home due to the large number of supporters the suspect had in the room.
‘Mr. Ulloa Gomez is a longtime Bay Area resident who, until his arrest, worked for years for a local towing company,’ Deputy Public Defender Eden Schwartz told The Standard.
‘He has the support of his family, and our office is committed to defending him against these charges.’
