MUNI Agent Arrested After Brawl

A San Francisco Municipal Railway ticket agent was arrested Thursday afternoon after he was involved in a physical altercation with two sisters at the Embarcadero station, a police spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said the incident started as a verbal altercation but developed into a fight in which the ticket agent allegedly punched one of the two sisters, a juvenile. It appears at least one of the sisters then threw a soda can at the ticket agent, she said.

"The preliminary investigation indicates the ticket agent was the aggressor," Tomioka said.

The juvenile and the ticket agent were both taken to local hospitals to be treated for injuries, Tomioka said. The other sister, an adult, was not injured, she said.

The Muni ticket agent had not been booked into jail as of this evening, but could face felony assault charges, Tomioka said.

Muni spokesman Judson True issued a statement this evening reading, "We are deeply troubled by this altercation and will assist the San Francisco Police Department in their investigation of it. We expect our employees to avoid verbal and physical altercations with our customer as much as possible, and we take seriously our responsibility to respond appropriately to this afternoon's incident."