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Contractor says San Francisco 911 dispatch did not help when van was stolen
An owner of a fire sprinkler installation business in San Rafael said he is frustrated with the lack of response by 911 dispatch. He has had three company vehicles stolen so far this year. During the latest incident in the city's Bernal Heights neighborhood, he called 911 and wasn't happy with the way the incident was handled.
SAN FRANCISCO - A Bay Area contractor said his employees were able to locate a stolen company van faster than police.
Todd Morris said when his workers found the van, it was ransacked and vandalized. He believes the vandalism could have been avoided if police responded sooner.
The small business owner said he's frustrated after being given the run-around by San Francisco 911 dispatch. He said he understands police have priorities, but he thought he would get help if it was a crime in progress.
"The truck boxes were broken into. They stole all our power tools, chords," Morris said as he showed a KTVU crew the van that was stolen.
He owns a fire sprinkler installation business in San Rafael.
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He said the van was recovered in about an hour, but it's now sitting in a repair show awaiting repairs.
"Violated. We can't do anything. We put GPS on these things. We secure them the best that we can," Morris said.
This is the third time one of his company vehicles has been stolen so far this year, he said.
Morris said the theft happened around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.
The van was parked in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood, near a job site when it was stolen.
He said he called 911 and started tracking it on his GPS system at his office.
"We were talking to 911. Literally watching them in real time coming off this exit," Morris said despite this, the dispatcher was of no help.
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"We told them where the truck was going. We saw where it was parked. We keep getting passed back and forth from the San Francisco 911 to CHP 911," said Morris. "They were more concerned about getting a police report than anything else. I'm thinking to myself if I have a police report, I wouldn't be calling 911."
With the help of GPS, the contractor said his crews recovered the van about four miles away near Candlestick Point before police showed up. He said machinery and tools were stolen. Morris estimated the loss and damage to add up to $17,000.
"It's getting worse, and worse, and worse," he said. "It's become a total epidemic,"
Morris said he loves his work and has 30 employees depending on him, so he'll figure out a way to make things work.
"I'm a very big advocate of the police. I support them 100% especially with what's going on these days. But today, I feel like the system failed me," said Morris.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency said it needs time to look into this case to see if it was handled properly.
In the meantime, Morris said he plans to spray paint his tools bright pink to possibly deterrent to thieves.
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