Bruce Miller: Ex-49er in court on assault charges

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) -- Former 49ers tight end Bruce Miller was ordered to appear for an arraignment in two months and not have any contact with his victims, a judge ordered Friday.

The San Francisco Superior Court judge also ruled that Miller, 29, should stay away from the victims and bail remained set at $178,000 for the NFL player, who was in court to answer to charges linked to a Labor Day attack on an elderly man at a San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf hotel.

Surrounded by several reporters, Miller, 29, declined to answer questions as he made his way into the San Francisco courthouse.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about the case," he said while waiting in the hallway. He was ordered to return on Nov. 2 for arraignment.

Said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon: "It's an embarrassment for us in this city that this couple was vicitmized."

Miller has been charged with seven felonies in connection with the 2:45 a.m. attack on Sept. 5 at the Marriott Hotel, located in the 1200 block of Columbus Avenue.

Authorities were called to the hotel for a report of an intoxicated person.

Police said the man tried to enter one of the hotel's rooms and began assaulting a man whose elderly parents were staying in the room. The 70-year-old man, staying in the room with his 66-year-old wife, tried to help stave off the attack on his son but was also attacked by Miller, police say.

Investigators say Miller used a cane to beat the elderly man, who was taken with his son to an area hospital. Miller was found at a nearby hotel and taken into custody. Later that day, the 49ers released him from their roster.

In surveillance video captured that night, Miller was seen wearing a white tank top and appeared to have blood coming from a wound to his forehead.

Hours before the assault, Miller appeared at Tommy's Joynt and argued with a couple over a sandwich.

"He didn't grab my arm but he definitely put his hand on my arm and my husband told him to back off and enough was enough," said Tara Garrison. She added that the argument escalated but that Miller was ultimately ordered out of the sandwich shop.

Garrison said she did not know that Miller was a 49ers player at the time of the incident.

"I was so shocked and floored that this was the same guy," she said. "And it was kind of scary because I thought that could have been an altercation that happened with my father."

KTVU reporter Tara Moriarty contributed to this report.

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