A man was robbed of a bag of recyclables and beaten with a metal bar in the Mid-Market district on Sunday, police said.

The victim, a 29-year-old San Francisco resident, reportedly knew his attacker and is so afraid of him that he refused to identify him to police, spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said Monday.

At about 5:10 p.m., Esparza said, officers responded to the 100 block of Hyde Street on a report that a man’s face was bleeding profusely.

The victim told officers that he was in the Tenderloin when he placed his bag of recycled cans on the ground.

The suspect picked up the bag and walked off with it, Esparza said, and the victim followed him to the 1200 block of Market Street.

“A verbal argument ensued,” Esparza said, “and then the suspect attacked the victim with a metal object.”

The suspect fled with the victims’ recyclables and has not been found, Esparza said.

Without a suspect description, Esparza said, investigators have little to go on. However, police have scoured the area for surveillance video footage. Results of that search were not immediately available Monday morning, Esparza said.

maldax@sfexaminer.com