A string of break-ins occurred at several inner Richmond businesses in the last week.
Ashley, the owner at Kinship Salon on the corner of Clement at 4th Avenue, wrote to tell us that her business was broken into during the early morning hours of Friday, March 31.
Kinship’s security camera captured footage of the burglar as he walked back and forth in front of the business a few times around 4:30am. Then a few minutes later, he smashed through the glass door and entered the premises.
“The man stole our front desk computer and caused other damages but didn’t get away with much else,” Ashley said.
The suspect, a male, was dressed in a dark hoodie. Unfortunately the surveillance video did not capture a clear shot of his face.
The Richfield on the corner of California and 4th Avenue was burglarized on Wednesday night, April 5, forcing it to close to customers on Thursday.
The tiny coffee shop posted some photos on their Instagram account, writing “Can’t let these low life’s keep us down! Thank you all for the concern and kind words! New window is being installed and we’ll be back to our regular business hours tomorrow.”
@therichfield posted photos of the break-in on social media
A third business in the same immediate area was also burglarized recently. We are confirming the details with the SFPD.
It is not yet known if the same suspect from Kinship Salon also burglarized these two other businesses. We’ll keep you posted if we hear more.
UPDATE 4/11/17: We confirmed with the Richmond District station that there was an attempted burglary at Finer Flora at 4224 California, but the suspect was unable to gain entry. Police do suspect the same man in all three robberies.
In the meantime, here are some tips from Richmond District Police Captain on how to spot suspicious behavior and call the SFPD:
- – A person who walks too closely to parked cars and peers inside as he/she walks along the street.
– A person who walks up and down the block two or three times, disappears and comes back (the suspects like to make sure the coast is clear before they commit their crime so as not to get interrupted).
– A car that has a group of people who double parks or travels slowly alongside the parked cars is a common technique for some auto burglars to use during the commission of their crime.
– Any person or behavior that just doesn’t seem normal and the person seems suspicious – you can call the non-emergency line at (415) 553-0123 to have a cop just patrol by or talk to the person. If you are seeing them commit a property crime, you can call 9-1-1!
Sarah B.
This is so sad and frustrating. I was the one (one of the ones?) who called the police when I walked by Kinship at 6:30 that morning and saw all the broken glass. It’s terrible that someone would do this. These are just local businesses trying to make it and be part of our community. Hope the thieves will get caught soon.
I also heard there have been a lot of bike thefts in the same area lately, which has been an ongoing problem since I first moved here 8 years ago. Keep your bikes locked and eyes open, folks!
I witnessed a car break-in a few months ago, but didn’t realize it until it was over.
A grey pickup with painted grey wooden panels to match pulled up next to a Subaru and double parked, a guy got out, kind of leaned against a back glass window until it popped, he reached in grabbed a bag and was gone. The whole thing happened in less than 15 seconds.
Pretty sure the raised side panels on the truck were used to provide cover, not to keep yard debris in the bed.
Anyway, keep an eye out for a medium grey 2010-ish mid-sized pickup with side panels painted to match the color of the truck. Couldn’t see the license plate or the perp. If you see something, say something.
regarding the descriptions of suspicious behaviors above… I see those every day. m wife called the police 2 weeks agao because a madman was screaming outside our condo and hitting our tree. she was on hold for 15 minutes. there is a half naked homeless man on cornwall between 3th and 5th most days and the homeless and vagrant situation has gotten much worse in inner richmond. I dont see it getting any better unless the police are willing to arrest and prosecute these folks. The city doesnt do much to discourage vagrants. We would be better off banding together as a neighborhood and hiring private security to watch out for businesses and to shoo away vagrants. i personally tell them to leave whenever i see them, but it takes the whole neighborhood
I live near Mountain Lake Park, when its late in the evening or early hours of the morning, I do see a number of people walking towards the park and they are looking into cars, trying to open car doors, checking to see if the garage or back gate to homes is unlocked, I have called the police a few times but by then its too late, these people have entered the park. I often wonder how many of them are camped out in the park, I see a handful of people in the morning existing the park with their sleeping bag kit.