*Bay-area burglars were filmed smashing and grabbing from parked cars in broad daylight.
A reporter from local TV station KTVU caught the brazen criminals in the act and the Lexus-driving thieves were completely unbothered by onlookers. Even though there was a person sitting in the back of one of the vehicles, the burglars still snatched the victim’s bag and fled.
According to the New York Post, the incident occurred near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf and there appeared to be no police in sight.
“It’s called ‘bipping and boosting,’” San Francisco Police Lt.Tracy McCray told The Post about the smash-and-grab incidents that are plaguing the Bay Area.
“It really exploded during the pandemic so much so that someone told me that the sidewalks are glistening and sparkling [with glass from windows] where cars are broken into left and right.”
These guys in Lexus bipped cars all over SF’s Fisherman’s Wharf, one by one. “I started following them, and they just didn’t care, obviously, that they were being followed or not, and it kept happening,” witness tells me. @SFPD @SFPDCentral pic.twitter.com/WzKacoRFGl
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 16, 2023
“The infuriating part is the brazenness of it has gotten off the chain. They don’t even try to hide what they are doing anymore,” McCray said.
San Francisco neighborhoods such as Alamo Square and Japantown have become so prone to daytime vehicle break-ins.
“Residents continue to deal with broken car windows, stolen possessions, and shattered glass on the streets and sidewalks, while visitors are left with trauma, financial loss, and less-than-ideal memories of their visits,” Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Tourist areas such as North Beach, Japantown, and Presidio have signs warning not to leave anything in their cars, but that hasn’t deterred criminals.
“When we do make an arrest for a break-in, the problem is, they are released almost immediately on their own recognizance and they go right back out there and do it again,” said McCray, who is the vice president of the SFPD union.
“A lot of them even have ankle monitoring bracelets and they still don’t care. There’s that complete disregard because they know they will just get away with it,” McCray added.
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