San Francisco police respond to viral video of car break-in
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police are now responding to a viral video of a break-in in Alamo Square.
Video posted to TikTok on Wednesday shows a person breaking into person in a white Lexus pull up alongside a parked black vehicle, break its back window, pull items out of the back seat and then drive off near the "Painted Ladies" homes on Monday night.
The video then pans to a San Francisco Police Department vehicle flashing its lights just a car length away.
Thousands of comments accuse the officer of being distracted or ignoring the theft.
In a Thursday statement, police said the sergeant sitting in the police car was in the area to conduct proactive patrols and was flagged down after the break-in started.
The officer immediately drove to the site of the theft, where the suspect was already out of the vehicle and trying to run away.
The suspect then dropped the stolen items and drove away, police said.
Tourist's rental car burglarized as San Francisco leaders address auto break-ins
In a cruel coincidence, tourists visiting San Francisco had their car burglarized not far from where city officials talked about auto burglaries.
In the last 10 seconds of the full video, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, the police officer can be seen backing up his car and then driving off in the direction of the white Lexus.
Police said the officer chased after the suspect, but that he and other responding officers couldn't find the getaway car.
No one was injured, and the family was able to recover their belongings, police said.
On Thursday, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins held a news conference on how the city is going to address car burglaries.
Scott said his department is going to use bait cars, in hopes of catching repeat offenders. He also said since the city's new budget allows for more police overtime, which will increase officer patrols in tourist areas like the Palace of Fine Arts, Lombard Street, and Fisherman's Wharf.
San Francisco police said there have been 13,000 car break-ins to date. The highest number of break-ins was in 2017 when there were over 31,000 car burglaries.