The two nudists were on a walk when they saved a tourist from an attack with a blowtorch by a well-known attacker within the community.
On July 2, two nudists, Pete Sferra and Lloyd Fishback, were going on a walk in San Francisco’s Castro district, also known as the gay district, when they witnessed a man threatening a tourist with a blowtorch. The man was “threatening to burn the tourist’s face off,” according to witness and owner of Aegan Delights on the street, Petros Fanourgiakis.
A video by Chris Watts, another store owner in the Castro, depicts another passerby stealing the blowtorch and running into Watts’ store to hide. When the attacker started to punch the tourist, Fishback, described by Sferra as “a quiet, respectful guy,” stepped in and punched the attacker, followed up with a slap to the face, which caused him to finally walk away.
While Fishback was the only one to step in physically, Sferra and at least two others called the police during the altercation. The attacker was found to be 38-year-old Zero Triball, who has been identified as a suspect of assault with a deadly weapon and is currently in county jail. He has a history of violence within the Castro district and has harassed store owners and tourists in the area for years. A sober community center, the Castro County Club, had a restraining order on him since 2021, but neglected to renew it due to the cost.
Sferra hopes that his and Fishback’s actions help normalize nudity within the Castro district, as well as give nudists a better reputation. The two have been taking naked walks throughout the community for years, yet have been previously met with pushback. “Over the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve tried to show the neighborhood that we’re regular people—We just have a relaxed idea of what we’re supposed to wear,” he says. “We just want to be seen as good contributing members of the community.”
