Man with machete goes after teen in 49ers jersey at laundromat in Pomona

Man tries to attack with machete at laundromat

A man carrying a machete tried to attack a teenager in a San Francisco 49ers jersey at a laundromat in Pomona.

POMONA, Calif. - A man armed with a machete stormed into the Super Wash N Dry on Fairplex Drive in Pomona on Saturday morning, scaring customers and threatening a teenager to take off his red jersey. 

"He was just saying a lot of ‘F the west side’ or something like that," said the laundromat’s owner, Phil Hernandez. 

The violent intruder directed his anger at the owner’s 16-year-old son. At one point, Hernandez said the suspect demanded the teen remove his red San Francisco 49ers jersey. 

"He did point out to my son when he kind of turned the corner here to get that red shirt off," Hernandez said.

As the situation escalated, customers inside the laundromat began to flee. Hernandez says several people tried to lock the doors to keep the man out, but the building does not have a deadbolt on one side. 

"I had a couple of customers trying to lock the building," Hernandez said. "I had to hold those doors shut. He came up to the door and continued with the same rhetoric about the color red. Since I had a red hat on at the time, then he decided to take a swing at the window." 

Surveillance video shows the glass shattering. The man continued yelling and making hand gestures that appear to resemble gang signs before eventually walking away. Customers described it as terrifying. "It was very crazy, very scary," said one customer, Darlene G.

By Tuesday afternoon, officers with the Pomona Police Department returned to the laundromat to collect and review security footage as they work to identify the suspect. 

Hernandez believes the man may have been under the influence of drugs at the time. Anyone who recognizes the suspect is urged to contact the Pomona Police Department.