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A San Francisco coffee shop worker took quick action Friday when he spotted a masked male walk into Carlin’s Cafe and try to steal a customer’s backpack, KTVU-TV reported.

Surveillance video inside the cafe shows employee Nick Grant behind the counter while the male walks in and immediately targets a seated customer by a window.

‘I want people to feel more empowered to act.’

At that moment, Grant quickly makes his way toward the male and rams him with a cart, grabs him from behind, and begins punching him. Video appears to show the male spraying a substance at Grant, who reacts by body-slamming the male to the floor and leg-locking him.

“Luckily I came with a cart, hit him with a cart, and then from there we just started fighting,” Grant told KTVU. “He bear-maced me, we rolled around on the ground for a little bit, and I held him until the cops came.”

Video shows another person come into the cafe to assist Grant, and soon that individual picks up a container — presumably the mace — that rolls free from the scuffle. Several other individuals watch the battle, and the station said Grant held the male for seven minutes before police arrived.

Grant added to the station that he has a background in security and combat training, which enabled him to quickly gain the upper hand in the fight.

Police said the male in question is 42-year-old Amir Moner of Concord, KTVU said, adding that he was booked into the San Francisco County Jail for attempted robbery and other charges — as well as active warrants from other counties.

“I’m a little sore this morning. I’m still coughing out bear mace. But I’m good,” Grant told the station the next morning back on the job at Carlin’s. “I’m not going to let anybody like that stop me from doing what I love.”

KTVU said some customers noticed a small cut on Grant’s head, and one of them gave him a hug.

The station said Alejandra Ramirez — who works at the Black Heart tattoo shop down the street — came into Carlin’s on Saturday to show support after seeing the video on social media: “I think it makes you happy that there’s someone who cares about someone who could’ve been a stranger to him, his backpack or whatever it was. I think that’s pretty cool.”

Grant noted to KTVU that such crimes aren’t a novelty in the neighborhood, and police response times have been slow.

“I’m just happy I was there,” he told the station. “You know it’s one of those things that folks can look away in certain situations, or you can have the moment to act, and I want people to feel more empowered to act.”

You can view a video report here about the incident.

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