Bruce Becker, owner of Earthsong, told us the man came into the store Tuesday evening, presumably intoxicated, and "hugged [a customer] in a sexual way" while attempting to steal her wallet. He then hugged a female employee of the shop as well. When the employee went to call the police, he left. 

Later, as the employee was locking up the shop, he came back and tried to grab her again. She went across the street to Sunshine Liquors to call the police. This time, the police arrived in time, and he was taken into custody. He was released this morning, according to Park Station. (He only had an overnight stay because he didn't actually steal the wallet or physically harm anybody.)

Becker says that other merchants have also seen the same man in their shops. He urges any merchants or residents who have information about him to contact Captain Vaswani at Park Station. He described the man as about 6'2", African-American, wearing a heavy black jacket and tennis shoes with no laces. 

Becker mentioned something called a Stay Away Order, which he hopes can be filed if enough people come forward. Once SFPD has enough of a paper trail supporting the notion that this person is a chronic nuisance in the neighborhood, they can issue a Stay Away Order, and as soon as the person comes back to the Haight, he would be breaking the law. It would stay in effect until lifted by a judge. 

We'll keep you posted if there are any developments, and in the meantime, stay safe.