The man who scrapped with a San Francisco police officer working in Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail last week in a filmed interaction was at the same intersection he was legally ordered to stay away from, court records show — and has a lengthy history of defying such orders.
The district attorney’s office is seeking to keep Tony Shervaughn Phillips, 44, in jail. Phillips was expected to appear in court this afternoon, but his arraignment was delayed to Wednesday morning.
Phillips was ordered to stay away from Cedar and Larkin streets in August after he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. In a motion filed today, assistant district attorney Erin Loback wrote that Phillips had already been cited or arrested three times for being in that area in the seven months since the order.
When he was arrested last week after he slammed Lurie’s bodyguard to the ground in a scuffle, Phillips had five open cases for illegal squatting, possessing drug paraphernalia and loitering with the intent to commit drug crimes.
Loback added that Phillips never appeared in court of his own accord on any of those open cases. He only appeared when he was brought in by the sheriff’s deputies from jail after being incarcerated on other alleged offenses.
When announcing the decision to charge Phillips on Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office was “fighting to make sure that those who should remain in custody do so, that we can assure the public that things like this will not continue to happen.”
Phillips’ rap sheet and court records, however, show a story of a man who has been in and out of jail, criminally charged 17 times in San Francisco since he was 19 years old. This does not include arrests that did not result in charges.
Loback wrote in the filing to keep Phillips in custody that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Phillips made and would carry out threats of great bodily injury to others if released from jail.
Describing the altercation that made international headlines last week, the court documents state that Phillips and three others were near the Larkin and Cedar intersection “blocking the road” — Phillips was purportedly sitting on the sidewalk with his legs extended into the street.
Mayor Daniel Lurie, as first reported by Mission Local, asked his driver to stop the car and exited, asking the group to move out of the road.
“Immediately, Mr. Phillips became argumentative,” the court filing reads. Phillips then “aggressively got very close” to Lurie’s bodyguard and purportedly said, “Bruce Lee I’ll kick your ass.” The officer then shoved Phillips with both hands “to defend himself and to create distance,” as seen on surveillance video footage posted to TikTok. After the officer made first contact, Phillips fought back and “rushed at” the officer.
“Mr. Phillips lifted Officer A up and threw him backwards onto the street,” the filing reads, injuring the officer’s head.
The filing also revealed that after the police officer working as Lurie’s driver unholstered his gun and pointed it at another man, 33-year-old Abraham Simon, who also briefly got involved in the scuffle. Simon then retreated and followed orders, according to Loback.
Phillips was arrested twice for resisting arrest and three times for making criminal threats in 2019 and 2020, Loback added. None of those resulted in criminal charges. In August 2019, Phillips was accused but not charged in the stabbing death of 42-year-old Curtis Neal. The district attorney’s office, then under George Gascón, found there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Phillips is represented by a court-appointed attorney, Ivan Rodriguez, who according to court records represented Phillips in a prior case for making threats and obstructing police.
Many of Phillips’ cases have resulted in diversion programs or probation. Records show that Phillips often failed to appear in court and ended up with warrants issued for his arrest. Later, he would appear in court after being picked up by police and, at times, he would still be granted diversion or released from custody.
After he was charged with drug-related loitering and possession in May 2025, Phillips was released by July. In August, Phillips was put on a supervision plan with the city’s pretrial diversion program. He was meant to report four times per week. At a scheduled November hearing, Phillips didn’t appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Similarly, in October 2019, Phillips was released on another monitoring program for past charges in 2018 of threatening to kill or physically harm someone, and delaying or obstructing a police officer. Rodriguez is listed as Phillips’ defense attorney.
By December 2019, court records describe Phillips as “not compliant” and having “received a negative report.” In November 2020, records show his probation was “terminated as unsuccessful” after another warrant arrest.
But ultimately, by November 2020, Phillips’ 2018 case was dismissed as having completed his diversion program.