That old 1967 hippie anthem by Scott McKenzie assured visitors to San Francisco that they would "meet some gentle people there," but these days you're apparently just as likely to encounter repeat criminal burglars:
Jenna Smith was in Chicago last month attending her grandmother's funeral when her boyfriend began scrolling through home security footage on his phone. Suddenly, he noticed a figure that didn't belong there. Someone had broken into the garage of their Mission District apartment building.
Stunned, Smith watched the burglar flicker to life on her own phone screen, through an app linked to the garage's security cameras. A man wandered into the frame, cased the floor and left with suitcases full of items. He would be back.
The man, or someone who resembled him, broke in nine times in two days, she said, rolling in several times on a Lime scooter, once with a female accomplice.
You think that's bad? At least one of those break-ins occurred when the homeowner was at home:
Retracing the timeline, Smith and her boyfriend realized that the first break-in occurred while they were home preparing for a flight the next day. In the security footage, the thief leisurely paced through the garage, as if carefully appraising the valuables. After filling a large backpack with stolen goods, he mounted his scooter and coasted out to a busy street.
How to sum up the situation on the ground in San Fran right now?
