Yelp Deathmatch Update: Business Owner Says Yelper Started Fight, Yelper Calls Tale 'Crock of Shit'

By Lauren Smiley Fri., Nov. 6 2009 at 4:15 PM

Categories: Breaking News

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Knock, knock...It's Diane Goodman.

We wrote earlier this week on the wrestling match that transpired after a business owner tracked down the address of a Yelper who'd given her bookstore a bad review on Sunday night. According to Sean C., as he's known on Yelp, the woman who'd labeled him "pussy boy" and "stupid person" in e-mails pushed her way into his house and the two engaged in a shoving match.

Well, the owner of Ocean Avenue Books, who was cited for battery at the scene, has spoken. Diane Goodman told Valleywag her side of the story this week. When we called her up, she reiterated that it was actually Sean C. who started the fight after she showed up to apologize for the e-mails.

"I was about to go in and I said, 'This is about the Yelp thing,' and that's when he freaked out," Goodman told the SF Weekly. "And he rushed forward and grabbed me like, 'You fucking bitch!' And we both toppled over back down the steps. He kind of slapped me down. That's exactly how it went."

Sean C. said that absolutely is not how it went. There was no toppling down the stairs together. No slap down. He claims he didn't even say anything to her, let alone call her an obscenity.

"Her story...is a complete crock of shit," he says. "She's the one that got arrested so I'll let the facts speak for themselves." Sean C. obtained a temporary restraining order against Goodman on Monday.

The police back Sean C.'s story. According to spokeswoman Sergeant Lyn Tomioka, the police report by Officer Eric Pindall states: "I determined that Goodman's claims of battery against her by the victim had no merit."

"She was arrested for battery, but the other mental issues became clear and had to be dealt with," Tomioka says.

Goodman still insists General Hospital treated her for bruises from the fight, and that a psychiatrist only evaluated her for five minutes and let her go. His parting words, according to Goodman? "He said to me, 'It's not you, it's the system.'"

Goodman could not remember this doctor's name.

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