Burglars have hit another business in San Francisco’s Sunset District. The latest incident was captured on camera and shows police closing in as suspects take off.
Video from Sunday’s burglary at Footprint, a sports apparel store, shows suspects shattering a large window before filling their hands with merchandise and taking off.
The incident adds to growing frustration in the city and leaves some business owners and residents worried about the increasing number of burglaries in the once quiet area.
“It was definitely a blow on top of the pandemic,” store owner Michael Hsu said in 2021 after his business was burglarized twice in one night.
In one instance the suspect used a blow torch to force the front door open to Hsu’s business.
Back in 2021, Hsu reached out to city leaders and months later Mayor London Breed was at his store announcing the Storefront Vandalism Relief Grant. The program was meant to help business owners pay for damages caused by burglaries.
Hsu received a check that day and used it to upgrade his security system — the same one that caught Sunday’s crime at Footprint.
Footprint store owner Michael Hsu joins Jessica Aguirre to discuss the latest burglary in San Francisco’s Sunset District.
But while the grants were appreciated, another local restaurant owner said it is still not enough to stop burglaries.
“First time they took away the computers,” said Qinghe Li, who owns Kingdom Dumpling Restaurant. “The second time they took away all the tablets.”
Li said his business was also hit twice by burglars last year and nobody has been arrested in those cases.
Business owners said they are no longer surprised by the burglaries and now more shocked by what they say is a lack of action by police.
Footprint’s owner said police told them their policies keep them from chasing burglary suspects, even if they are spotted.
The San Francisco police station is three blocks away from the burglarized business, which could explain why police were able to respond with enough time to watch the suspects taking off.
Police on Monday did not return NBC Bay Area’s requests for more information on the latest burglary and others in the area.
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