Luxury watches targeted in at least 20 San Francisco armed robberies

Luxury watches targeted in Bay Area robberies

Police say there have been at least 20 armed robberies since June in the Bay Area, targeting people wearing Rolex watches and other expensive items.

SAN FRANCISCO - Armed robbers are targeting people wearing Rolexes and other high-end watches in San Francisco.

San Francisco police said there have been at least 20 of these armed robberies since June.

"This is an organized group of suspects who are getting together. They are specifically targeting people, and we do believe there is some level of surveillance or following beforehand," said Sgt. Adam Lobsinger of the San Francisco Police Department.

Lobsinger stated that such watches are worth tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars.

Some victims, he said, have fought back and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

"Fortunately, we have not seen major injuries. But one thing that we always remind people, if you are the victim of this type of crime, to not fight back," Lobsinger said. "At the end of the day, this is a property crime, your watch can be replaced, but you can not."

Police say some of the crimes have been caught on surveillance camera, and they're using some of that video to investigate these crimes.

In the meantime, SFPD want people to stay alert when wearing valuable items, like watches.