A well-known chef, Wendy Drew, who appeared on the Netflix series “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment,” faced a horrifying ordeal when she was brutally attacked by a homeless man in San Francisco. The incident occurred on September 1st within a liquor store downtown. The attacker, later identified as Irvin Rivera-Lara, called Drew a racial slur before initiating the assault.
The entire violent altercation was captured on surveillance footage. Drew recounted how the man first called her a racial slur and then proceeded to punch her multiple times while walking his dog. She bravely defended herself by pushing him into the liquor store, urging passersby to call emergency services.
During their struggle within the store, Drew held Rivera-Lara in a bear hug, but loosened her grip when she believed the dog intended to bite her, only to find it licking her face instead. Rivera-Lara took advantage of this moment and began violently punching Drew’s face repeatedly, despite her attempts to prevent him from escaping the store.
Rivera-Lara was eventually detained outside the store until the police arrived on the scene. In addition to being charged with assault likely to cause great bodily injury and committing a hate crime, he was also found providing false information to an officer. His violent criminal history includes attacking the owner of a sandwich shop last year after being confronted for urinating near a restaurant.
The surveillance footage shows Drew suffering from a broken nose and a gruesome eye injury sustained during the attack. She also suffered a concussion, which may require surgery, and received a tetanus shot to prevent any further complications. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins officially charged Rivera-Lara with assault likely to cause great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury, both of which include special allegations that the incident was a hate crime.
Jenkins expressed her determination to ensure accountability and justice in this case, emphasizing that hate crimes have no place in the community and need to be addressed swiftly by the criminal justice system.
