SF nonprofit director recovering after beating outside Fillmore District community center
SAN FRANCISCO -- The director of a San Francisco non-profit is recovering from a violent assault Friday outside his organization's entrance.
The attack happened late Friday morning at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center at Webster and McAllister in the city's Fillmore District.
The victim -- James Spingola, executive director of the non-profit organization -- told officers he was beaten by two men who struck him multiple times with a wooden plank after he had asked them not to congregate at the center's front door.
Police arrived to find one of the suspects detained by witnesses.
On Saturday, Spingola was out of the hospital and recovering at home. He spoke with KPIX 5's Betty Yu over the phone and said his eyes were swollen shut from the injuries.
He said he was struck with a two-by-four in the back of the head and then in the face by two men. He said he suffered bone fractures under his eyes.
Spingola worked with youth at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, and tried to keep children from a life of violence.
"He attends our church, he attends Third Baptist Church and he directs the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, a program that's doing an outstanding job of training children, teaching them," said Dr. Amos Brown, president of San Francisco's NAACP. "We don't need this kind of destructive behavior in a community that's already challenged."
Brown said the two recently spoke about violence, drug use and homelessness in their community.
"I knew it was coming, I wasn't surprised. We had talked about this personally," he added.
Spingola said around 11 am on Friday, he spotted two men hopping the fence of the community center on McAllister Street. He later told them not to congregate at the center's front door. That's when he was hit.
"He's upset that these persons would take advantage of a facility that exists for the good of children," said Dr. Brown.
A GoFundNe page has been set up to help with Spingola's medical expenses. Police are still looking for the second suspect.