Phoenix police are investigating after a man was assaulted while feeding a homeless community

PHOENIX — Phoenix police are investigating after the founder of a local nonprofit was assaulted Saturday night while delivering food to the community’s homeless population.

Founder Erik Sanchez MASS Arizonahe was with his team at 23rd Avenue and Indian School Road when he says a couple approached him while he was offering food to people.

Sanchez says he offered the man and woman a meal, but then demanded they leave after they began yelling at unhoused residents in the area.

“If you really cared about these people, you would get them (expletive) off our (expletive) streets,” the woman can be heard saying in a video Sanchez recorded of the incident.

“The fact that I have to carry any type of defensive or offensive weapon or tool to protect myself and my clients from the public really shows that there is a problem,” Sanchez said, pointing to the non-lethal pepper ball guns on his hips.

According to police, officers were dispatched to the scene around 8:30 p.m. on a call of an assault

Sanchez says that while this one was more graphic than most, these types of confrontations happen every few months.

“I was attacked on the channel. I was pulled towards a gun that stuck in my hip, marking it as their territory. We don’t belong there,” Sanchez said.

Despite these threats, Sanchez remains committed to helping the community.

“We are not paid to defend these people. We are not paid to feed these people. We defend them, feed them and help them because that’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Police confirmed they were reviewing all video evidence provided by Sanchez and his team. For now, the attackers remain at large, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.