Videos posted on social media captured a thief breaking the window of a car and stealing a bag from an individual in the back seat in San Francisco, California.
Henry K. Lee of KTVU news in San Francisco shared several videos on X, formerly Twitter, showing an individual repeatedly jumping out of a car and attempting to steal from other cars parked on the side of the road.
"UPDATE: In this video, the 2nd parked car targeted by the thief actually had someone sitting in the back seat of the blue SUV . The scofflaw breaks the window & snatches a bag, eliciting screams from the SUV," Lee wrote on X with the videos.
UPDATE: In this video, the 2nd parked car targeted by the thief actually had someone sitting in the back seat of the blue SUV . The scofflaw breaks the window & snatches a bag, eliciting screams from the SUV. pic.twitter.com/WzKacoRFGl
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 17, 2023
As the video shows, the thief is seen jumping out of a slow-moving car and breaking the window of a parked car. After breaking the window, the thief is seen removing a bar from the back seat and a muffled scream can be heard, appearing to be from the individual inside the car that was robbed.
Over the past several months, San Francisco has faced a wave of theft and larceny and the city's elected officials, such as Mayor London Breed, have been criticized for the rise in homelessness.
According to data from the San Francisco Police Department, since the start of 2023, there have been a total of 31,007 reported crimes, including 35 homicides, 1,660 robberies, 1,483 assaults, and nearly 20,000 larceny-theft incidents. In total, crime has declined by 3.8 percent from January to August 2023, compared to the previous year, but some crimes, such as motor vehicle theft have increased. The data shows that motor vehicle theft has increased by 12.7 percent over the past year, compared to the same period in 2022.
Earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that employees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services office in San Francisco were advised to work from home over safety concerns.
"In light of the conditions at the (Federal Building) we recommend employees...maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future," an August 4 memo from HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter on August 13, California Representative Kevin Kiley criticized crime in San Francisco and said, "Crime in San Francisco is so out-of-control that employees at the Federal Building are being told to stay home. The building is home to Nancy Pelosi's office, as well as the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health & Human Services."
"If California offers a preview of where our country is headed, San Francisco offers an even starker warning. This is where failed policies, radical politics, and public corruption are in their most advanced stage – and where residents are most rapidly fleeing," the post added.
Newsweek reached out to the San Francisco Police Department via email for comment.
