Caught on camera: Thieves armed with sledgehammers descend on SF cannabis store
SAN FRANCISCO - A cannabis dispensary in San Francisco was burglarized Thursday morning by suspects armed with sledgehammers, police said.
Despite the burglary, the California Street Cannabis Company is open, and says even after repeated break-ins they aren't going anywhere.
Surveillance cameras outside the California Street Cannabis Company on San Francisco's Clement Street picked up the moment a car load of burglars, donned in all black, pulled in at 3:20 a.m. in a dark-colored sedan.
Within seconds, they're out of the car, bashing at the window with a sledgehammer. When that didn't work, they used pry bars to pull away the protective shield, break the glass and break in.
According to business owner Duncan Ley, officers responded quickly but not before the suspects caused tens of thousands worth of damage and stole some items.
Ley watched it all unfold on his phone when the alarm was tripped.
"I see that there's five dudes in a car, ransacking the place," said Ley. "They busted down the front window stole a bunch of product."
Ley said this has become all too common with this location being targeted by burglars four times since it opened its doors in 2021.
"What we've learned, unfortunately, each time this happened we've had to harden our systems, and it stinks to continue to have to harden yourself," said Ley.
SFPD said they were able to stop the burglary but did not make any arrests.
"Officers on patrol came upon what ended up being the end of the crime, and responded," said SFPD Capt. Chris Canning. "Attempted to coordinate an arrest of the suspects, sadly, that wasn't successful."
Canning said this overnight retail theft is just the latest in a series of destructive burglaries. Police say they are increasingly relying on a network of cameras to track vehicles involved in these break-ins, and say they're redistributing their officers to respond quickly when the break-ins happen.
"There's been a lot of concern in the Richmond [neighborhood] in particular of these types of crimes, particularly along our commercial corridors during nighttime hours and I credit the night watch officers of prioritizing their patrols in areas that would be vulnerable," said Canning.
The owner of California Street Cannabis told KTVU that another cannabis business on Market Street in San Francisco was burglarized overnight as well.
At this point, it's unclear if it was the same crew that committed this burglary.
Police are asking anyone who has additional video of the suspects here or at any other locations, to forward that information to police.
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