ENCINTAS, Calif. (KGTV) - Two people suffered minor injuries, after a struggle between a coffee shop owner and a transient led to a shooting.
Outside Ironsmith Coffee Roasters along S. Coast Highway was a filled-up shopping cart surrounded by crime tape Thursday morning.
Deputies say around 8 a.m., a known homeless man was asked to leave the coffee shop after causing a disturbance, which led to an argument in the alley behind the coffee shop between the owner and the transient.
According to deputies, as it turned into a fight, the coffee shop owner, a Marine veteran, pulled out a gun. In the struggle, one shot went off, grazing the coffee shop owner in the back of the neck. A bystander was also struck, shrapnel hitting his leg.
A sheriff's department spokesperson says the transient got a hold of the gun. The coffee shop owner told friends, the homeless man moved towards him and continued to follow him for half a block, all the way to a fire station.
There, the coffee shop owner called out for help. Several firefighters, standing outside, tackled the homeless man, holding him until deputies arrived and arrested him.
The incident comes as workers at nearby businesses say they've been on alert amid an increase in violent incidents among a small segment of the homeless population.
Leon Sabbas, manager at Home and Away sports bar, points to several incidents in the past week.
“I had a guy attack me and tried to headbutt me. I had another guy pull a knife on one of my employees,” said Sabbas.
As for the coffee shop owner, he has not been arrested.
A sheriff's department spokesperson says a business owner is allowed to possess a gun at his business. The investigation is ongoing.
Both the coffee shop owner and the bystander were treated and released from a hospital.
Deputies arrested 31-year-old Jmar Tarafa on several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon.
