San Francisco police respond to viral car break-in video

The San Francisco Police Department has issued a formal response to a viral video depicting people breaking into a car by Alamo Square while an SFPD car is on the block facing the scene. 

In the video, which was posted by the Bay Area Instagram account Antioch Tweets earlier this week and quickly made the rounds online, a group of people can be seen rushing to a black SUV after its alarm goes off. Amid the chaos, a masked individual appears to step away from the car and get into another vehicle before speeding around an SFPD patrol car with its lights on. One account sharing the video described it as, “Police sit back and watch thieves break into tourist’s cars and steal all their belongings.” 

But SFPD says that their “proactive” patrolling actually disrupted the break-in, subsequently allowing the family’s belongings to be recovered and preventing them from getting hurt in an otherwise dangerous situation.   

According to the department’s release, the break-in took place Monday at about 6:40 p.m. A police sergeant patrolling the area was alerted by a bystander who witnessed a car getting broken into near the intersection of Steiner and Hayes streets, a known “hot spot” for car thefts, SFPD said. The sergeant then “immediately drove to the area where the incident was occurring and saw the suspect attempting to flee to his waiting vehicle.” The officer then turned on his patrol car’s emergency lights to stop the suspect, who dropped the items and quickly drove out of the area, SFPD said.  

“The SFPD Sergeant quickly turned his patrol vehicle around to attempt to stop the fleeing suspect,” but they “had already fled the scene and the Sergeant and other responding officers were unable to locate the vehicle,” the release said.

For years now, car break-ins have plagued San Francisco, and officials have recently announced new tactics to curb them, including deploying “bait cars.” More uniformed officers are also slated to patrol busy tourist destinations like Alamo Square, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Palace of Fine Arts. 

“Our message to these criminals is clear: If you come to San Francisco to break into cars or commit other crimes, we will arrest you,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said in an Aug. 24 news release. “I’m disturbed every time I see these crimes on social media or the local news. Auto break ins are devastating to residents and visitors who should be having a joyous experience in San Francisco rather than the nightmare of losing their valuable personal belongings.”

For now, officials recommend avoiding keeping luggage or purses in vehicles and ensuring that any valuables are out of view. Anyone with information about the break-in in the video can contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.”