A grandfather-of-two was among a pair of nudists who took down a crazed man they saw attacking tourists and shop owners with a blowtorch on the streets of San Francisco. 

Pete Sferra from San Jose was walking in the Castro area of the city with his friend Lloyd Fishback, who lives in town, when they noticed the something awry. 

The pair came across a ‘crazy kind of pirate guy’ with a blowtorch that he was threatening to use as a weapon.

Shop owner Chris Watts wrote on Facebook how the man ‘threatened my team with a blow torch after we locked the doors’ in what was a scary encounter.

A grandfather-of-two was among two nudists who took down a crazed man who was attacking tourists and shop owners on the streets of San Francisco with a blowtorch

Two nudists, Pete Sferra from San Jose, left, was walking in the Castro area of the city with his friend Lloyd Fishback, right, who lives in town

Video from the scene shows Fishback, the younger of the two nudists, grab the blowtorch before the man starts punching the tourist without warning.

Fists fly as both Fishback and the deranged man tumbled off the sidewalk an into the street. 

Just as the suspect appeared distracted, one of the shop owners managed to snatch the blow torch away and hurriedly ran away.

The tussle between the pair continued with Fishback following up with another underhand smack to the suspect’s face. 

‘My buddy Lloyd is a quiet, respectful guy but he didn’t waste any time and nailed the guy with a right hook,’ Sferra said to The San Francisco Standard.

It was then the attacker finally got the message and walked away. In the meantime the police were called.

Petros Fanourgiakis, who runs the nearby Aegean Delights dessert shop and said the man had threatened to burn the tourist’s face with the blow torch.

‘He’s a known problem in the neighborhood. He’s erratic and violent,’ said Terry Asten Bennett, president of the Castro Merchants Association. 

‘My buddy Lloyd is a quiet, respectful guy but he didn’t waste any time and nailed the guy with a right hook,’ Sferra said, pictured with his two grandsons

Lloyd Fishback dispensed with some justice of his own as he punched the attacker a few times

‘It’s completely unfair to a community when one person can hold it hostage,’ Bennett said. 

Even the Castro Country Club had obtained a restraining order against Triball in 2021 but decided to not renew the order because it was too expensive.  

In that case, Triball had threatened to burn down the building and kill the club’s executive director.

San Francisco Police also appeared to be familiar with the suspect who was arrested and identified as 38-year-old Zero Triball. 

Triball is suspected of assault with a deadly weapon and remains in county jail.

‘In my view, he’s a guy who’ll continue committing medium violent crimes,’ said Rafael Mandelman who is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

A nearby shop owner captured footage of the two nudists beating up the man with a blowtorch

A shop worker could be seen running away after snatching the blowtorch from the man

‘I don’t think he should be left to manage his own life. He should be in a conservatorship. Our system is crazy,’ Mandelman added.

The person who was on vacation in the city and was seen being attacked in the video has not been identified but is believed to be a Brazilian man named Leo

‘I hate seeing tourists experience that kind of stuff,’ Sferra said.

The area of the city is a bustling neighborhood, known for its openly gay culture. 

Explaining his interest in nudism, Sferra has said that he wants to normalize the practice. 

‘Over the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve tried to show the neighborhood that we’re regular people—we just have a relaxed idea of what we’re supposed to wear.

‘We just want to be seen as good contributing members of the community,’ Sferra explained.