Video: Man drilling holes in San Francisco garages

SAN FRANCISCO - People in one San Francisco neighborhood have noticed a disturbing crime trend in the past few days.

They said one man has been seen drilling holes into dozens of garage doors in the inner Richmond District, as a way to break into homes. 

Some neighbors have filed police reports and others have not.

They said they're aware the police department is short-staffed, and they've taken it upon themselves to try to protect each other.

"This is one of my neighbors' garages that they drilled a hole in," said neighborhood watch captain Mark Dietrich as he pointed to a hole in a garage door.  

He said since the beginning of this week, a thief has drilled holes into the garage doors of dozens of homes in the area.

"They reach in with a wire, grab the latch and the garage door goes right up. It's only a tiny hole," said Dietrich.  

Surveillance video showed the suspected thief walking up to a home on 15th Avenue. 

The owner, who asked us not to give her name, said the suspect drilled a hole in her garage door on Wednesday morning.  

"It just makes you feel vulnerable. It's disappointing," said the homeowner.  

Neighbors have posted flyers with photos of the suspect, to alert residents that he is drilling holes into garage doors to break into homes. 
          
Josh Schiffman said he was out walking his dog around 6 a.m. Wednesday when he saw the suspect casing homes.
 
Shiffman said he yelled out at the suspect.

"He started approaching me, reaching into his bag and pulled out a hunting knife," Schiffman said the suspect threatened him with the knife.

But Schiffman's dog growled and barked at the suspect, which led him to back off and walk away. 

It's unclear how many homes the suspect was actually able to burglarize.

"We'll bounce back. But it is disheartening. It makes you feel unsafe," said the homeowner who had a hole drilled into her garage store.  

Neighbors described the suspect as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds and he carried a crossbody bag. 

Homeowner Dietrich created a website to offer tips to help people protect their homes against burglaries. 

Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU,  Instagram @AmberKTVU  or Twitter @AmberKTVU