San Francisco police claim viral video of hot dog vendor's arrest was an “orchestrated attempt” to undermine law enforcement

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco police want to correct a video circulating online that shows a street vendor handcuffed and lying on the ground along the Embarcadero while the woman's young daughter screams.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

PREVIOUS STORY: San Francisco hot dog vendor arrested in viral video speaks as police and community respond

In a thread of posts on X, the SFPD says the video does not show the incident that led to the arrest. There, they say, the woman attacked a Port of San Francisco employee and resisted arrest. They say the whole thing “appears to be an orchestrated action by people selling hot dogs illegally to undermine the city's efforts to enforce the law.”

The video, taken off Pier 33 on September 8, is difficult to watch.

Hot dog vendor and single mother Ana Luisa Casimir Julca lies on the ground as she is detained by police while her five-year-old daughter can be heard screaming nearby.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, the video was edited and a witness said someone told the girl to “start crying near the officers in order to manipulate the situation.”

They also say that the bodycam video shows the entire incident and only the part after the woman was handcuffed was posted online.

In the social media posts, police describe the timeline of events. They say that the city's Vending Enforcement Task Force issued warnings to Casimir Julca and other people selling illegally. When they returned an hour later, they tried to take her shopping cart away, which escalated the situation.

MORE: Video shows San Francisco city worker overturning hot dog vendor's cart

The Port of San Francisco says it, along with the building and health departments, regularly cracks down on unauthorized sales on port property. The SFPD says it ensured the safety of city workers and intervened after Casimir Julca assaulted a port employee.

ABC7 News found Casimir Julca on Tuesday unable to sell merchandise due to her injuries and her shopping cart was confiscated.

She said she's following all the rules she knows, like wearing gloves and buying her groceries at Restaurant Depot and Costco. She says she just wants to work in peace.

Rodrigo Lopez of the Mission Street Vendors Association believes the language barrier was a major issue in this incident and hopes law enforcement officials will pay more attention to it in the future.

When ABC7 News asked San Francisco police about the incident, a spokesperson said that in addition to the alleged assault, food safety and vending laws were also violated. In addition, Evan Sernoffsky, communications director, said, “If the store clerk doesn't like being arrested, she should reconsider her behavior when city workers are just trying to do their jobs.”