Noe Street may boast a tranquil, leafy ambiance, but another recent violent crime in the area has neighbors on edge.

Last night, tipster Andrew S. wrote in to share an eyewitness account of an assault that occurred on Noe near Henry Street early yesterday morning:

"I'm writing in regards to a young woman who was assaulted this morning on Noe near Henry street at around 6:30am. The assault happened next door to where I live. My partner and I went outside to aid the woman after calling the police. She explained in detail what happened to her and it appears that the man who assaulted her (punched her in her face) did not attempt to take her belongings despite the fact that she was carrying a purse and had her smartphone in her hand.

"He punched her and then after she fell, he lunged on top of her and in her words, gave her a bear hug and she felt he was trying to take her. Her screams brought attention and he fled. She thinks he jumped into a car and thought there may have been two men. I just wanted to detail what I know as this did not seem like a mugging for a phone, etc., but rather, an attempted abduction."

We reached out to the SFPD's Albie Esparza to learn more about the incident. According to Esparza, that assault was not an attempted kidnapping, and was in fact a more mundane attempted robbery. 

"This was an attempted robbery as the suspect attempted to take the victim's mobile phone after he punched her in the face," said Esparza. "As he grabbed her with both hands trying to take her down she began to scream. The suspect let go and fled on foot. The suspect got into a vehicle and then took off."

Update, 3/13: A reader who's identified herself as the victim left the following clarification as a comment on this article, in response to a suggestion that smartphone distraction played into the incident: 

"I'm the one who got assaulted and I don't necessarily think this is a fair statement. I had my phone in my hand (not looking at it) and this man came out of nowhere and came up to me and started punching me in the face. I understand the importance of being aware on the street but there is little I could've done to avoid this incident. please think before you post uninformed comments like this, I wasn't asking to be assaulted and this man could've easily taken my phone out of my hand. he didn't. he was trying to hurt me, not steal my stuff. my stuff was easily accessible and nothing was taken."

She also says that she's "not sure" why the police reported the incident as an attempted robbery. "I don't necessarily remember what I told the police because I was so panicked but I am positive I told them that they weren't attempting to take anything from me. just trying to hurt me and get me down to the ground."

This comes at the same location as the fatal shooting of Michael Marquez back in November. The shooting occurred while Marquez and two friends were walking on Noe near Henry in the early hours of the morning, and were accosted by three suspects with at least one gun. Told to lie on the ground, Marquez took off running and was fatally shot in the torso.

No arrests have been made in that case, nor in the case of the brutal assault and death of Bryan Higgins, aka Feather Lynn, at Church and Duboce back in August. However, a person of interest has been identified in the Feather Lynn case, which has still not been officially designated as a "homicide" by the Medical Examiner’s office.

At a December safety meeting, an increased police presence was pledged to the area, and the enforcement and homeless outreach program Castro Cares, which adds more police patrols in the neighborhood, is ramping up this week. 

Last year, the Chron's C.W. Nevius suggested that the "Duboce Triangle neighborhood getting scary with drugs, violence." With these violent crimes, plus the ongoing vandalism of the neighborhood's Little Free Library, stolen benches and more, do local residents feel that crime is on the rise?