ABC7 Exclusive: Man who tried to stop Giants mob

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- After the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, some fans got violent. One man who tried to stop the vandalism got hurt in the process. But his efforts were rewarded -- he was a guest of honor at Wednesday's World Series ceremony for the Giants. In an exclusive interview with ABC7 News, he talked about what happened and why he'd do it again.

He's a man who chose to do the right thing on Sunday night, but he risked a lot for it, "We saw all this chaos going on, and it looked like a war zone," Giants fan Simon Timony said.

On Sunday the 28-year-old and his friends celebrated the Giants sweep like other fans. As they were walking towards Market and 3rd, they saw the chaos. Timony got worried when he saw people lighting fires in the street, "There was a lot going on, there were children out," Timony said. "I was trying to urge them to get out of there."

He saw a man holding a steel barricade in front of a Muni bus. A picture of this was widely circulated on social media pages, "And the gentleman smashing the windows in, and there were people surrounding it and starting fires," Timony said. "If you see something wrong happening, step in, or something." And Timony did. He tried to prevent the mob from vandalizing the Muni bus, "I took off running, and the last thing I remember is just getting in between people, pushing them away. And I was just shouting, 'This is not us, we don't do this.' And sucker punch, floor kicking, blood, blood, blood, and then that's all I remember. And my friends came to help me and dragged me out of there."

Timony's nose was broken, he had gashes on his face, and two chipped teeth. Word of the young man's bravery got to Supervisor Scott Weiner, who invited Timony to sit with him in the VIP section of the Civic Center ceremonies, "More people need to do that," Weiner said. "Sometimes were all tempted to stand back and just, you know, let whatever happens happen."

As Timony walked to the seating area, he bumped into the friend who pulled him out and saved him from serious injury. When asked why he would risk taking on a violent mob, Timony answered, "You don't want to see anything like this happen to your city, you know, I'm the only one that should have a black eye, and not the city of San Francisco. I'm a product of this city, I'm a native son. And I'm so proud of everything it's given me. I wanted to give something back. And nothing like this should happen." When asked if he would do it again, Timony answered, "Absolutely."

The San Francisco native doesn't think of himself as a hero, saying, "I don't know if this was heroics, or stupidity, probably both." Timony says no one in the crowd came to his rescue as he was being beaten. When asked how he felt about that his answer was, "Disappointed."

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mission district, san francisco giants, world series, crime, fire, fireworks, muni, vandalism, san francisco news, vic lee

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