Shopkeeper left bloody after attack in store

A San Francisco business owner was struck in the face and beaten during an attack at her SoMa delicatessen Monday, police and her daughter said.

Rima Jodeh, owner of Tony Baloney’s at the corner of Howard and Seventh streets, suffered severe bruises and cuts after she was pummeled by a person attempting to enter the store Monday afternoon, her daughter Aminah Joudeh, who spells her last name differently from her parents, told The Chronicle.

Police responding to the scene arrested an unidentified man on charges of battery, shoplifting and trespassing, said Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department. The suspect was booked into San Francisco County Jail, but has not been publicly named “because he lacked sufficient identification,” Rueca said.

Jodeh, a Palestinian immigrant from Jordan and mother of three, was working at the SoMa delicatessen around 1 p.m. Monday when the assailant entered, stole a beverage and left the shop, her daughter said. Jodeh attempted to close the shop’s front door to prevent the assailant from reentering when the man returned moments later.

“He punched her in the face,” said Joudeh, 22. “He grabbed her and started beating her.”

Bystanders who saw the attack intervened and held the suspect until police officers arrived around 1:10 p.m., Rueca said.

Jodeh suffered bleeding and bruising to her lips, nose, jaw and arms. She also sustained severe cuts “from where her earrings were punched into her ears,” her daughter said. “If people hadn’t intervened, I fear far worse would have happened.”

The assault comes less than one month after a 72yearold shopkeeper lost an eye in a violent stabbing at his San Francisco convenience store.

Since opening Tony Baloney’s nearly 30 years ago, Jodeh and husband Tony have weathered breakins, robberies and an onslaught of harassment in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Joudeh said. Her mother in particular faced “violent Islamophobia” as a “visibly Muslim woman,” Joudeh said.

So common was the harassment and theft that Joudeh said her parents rarely reported incidents to the police. The suspect in Monday’s assault was known among the delicatessen workers for taking food and drinks without paying.

Joudeh said her mother was reluctant to seek out medical treatment following the attack and returned to work at the delicatessen on Tuesday in spite of her injuries.

“She doesn’t take time off — it’s not something she can afford,” Joudeh said.