San Francisco truffle-shop owner attacked, teen son comes to his rescue; suspect released

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A suspect who was arrested after an altercation outside a North Beach truffle shop in San Francisco has been released from jail and charges against him have been put on hold, officials confirmed on Thursday. 

The incident was caught on surveillance camera earlier this week. Now the suspect, who appeared to be homeless, is saying he put the owner of a truffle shop in a choke hold out of self defense. 

A spokesperson from San Francisco's District Attorney's office said  51-year-old Paul Anghilante has not been charged at this point because prosecutors can't disprove the claim of self defense. 

Earlier in the week, the business owner said he was strangled by a homeless man before his teenage son came to his rescue, armed with a baseball bat. His store is XOX Truffles, a sweet shop that is known worldwide for its chocolate treats.

"His truffles are incredible, and he's a great guy," said customer Claudia Bluhm. 

Customers were disappointed to find out that the owner, Jean Marc Gorce was attacked Monday afternoon outside his truffle shop.

Part of the scuffle was captured on the store's surveillance camera. Gorce is seen telling Anghilante, to leave the shop.

With some force by the shop owner, the man left.

"When I stepped forward from my shop to the sidewalk, I fell to the ground and when I fell to the ground that's when he took advantage of me and put me in a chokehold," Gorce said.

Gorce said he yelled for help, and his 13-year-old son, Sebastien came to his rescue. 

Video shows Sebastien running toward the back of the store to grab a bat. He said customers told him to put it down, but he feared for his dad's life. 

"I was thinking to myself, 'If this keeps going on, if this guy keeps strangling my dad, I'm going to hit him.' If it lasted a couple more seconds I would have hit the guy," the boy said. 

Gorce credits his son for saving his life. 

Anghilante was arrested for assault in connection to the attack. His arraignment was on Thursday.