Rash of Burglaries Besiege Dogpatch, Potrero Hill

Over the last couple of months several break-ins occurred at Dogpatch and Potrero Hill businesses. On November 7, around 2 a.m., burglars slammed a stolen car into the front gate of Reno’s Liquor Store on 22nd Street. Once inside it took the thieves minutes to grab cash and cigarettes. Constables arrived and chased the pinched vehicle on U.S. 101; the driver jumped off the side of the freeway, sustaining serious injuries.

Reno’s has been open for 35 years, during which Dogpatch transformed from being dominated by largely derelict factories and warehouses into a trendy neighborhood. According to a store employee, this was the first time the business had been burglarized.

Around Thanksgiving, CoffeeShop on 22nd, Gilberth’s Latin Fusion, Gather Wine Lounge, and Humphry Slocombe, all on Third Street, were burglarized. Gilberth’s suffered the worst damage. An exterior lockbox was broken into, the key inside used to enter the restaurant. Items were scattered around; the thieves stole a safe, laptop, point of sale tablets, and shoes. 

Gather’s lockbox also was broken into. An iPad and two bottles of wine were stolen. Humphry Slocombe’s front door was shattered in what appeared to be a failed attempt to gain access. CoffeeShop’s front window was smashed. Nothing was taken, though a single cracked pane can cost thousands of dollars to repair. 

Bandit, a 20th Street restaurant, was burglarized the morning of December 9th. A thief broke the front door glass and took the cash drawer.

In November, intruders broke a large window and entered Connecticut Yankee, on 17th and Connecticut streets. The cash register drawer was empty; nothing was taken. 

In response to the rash of burglaries, residents near the Potrero Hill Whole Foods Market formed a WhatsApp group. On November 26th, a group member noticed a confused postal worker searching for a U.S. Postal Service mailbox. Another replied that the letterbox had been present the previous day. Multiple group members have Nest cameras. They reviewed their footage; one neighbor had a particularly good angle and shared recordings. At around 3:30 a.m. on November 26th a camera captured a silver sedan circling the area. Eventually, the vehicle pulled over in front of the USPS mailbox. A couple minutes later the sedan drove off. The letterbox was gone.

The USPS mailbox was bolted to the ground; recently cut pins now sit flush to the cement. Based on footage another resident captured it seems likely that a second car served as a lookout. Stealing a USPS letterbox is a federal offense; an investigation is underway.

The Postal Service has replaced or retrofitted mailboxes throughout San Francisco to eliminate the pull-down handle in favor of a slender mail slot with a singular goal: foiling thieves. Stealing an entire letterbox appears to be at least one response by burglars. Robbers are looking for anything of value, such as unemployment documents, bank and credit card information.

In addition to ad hoc WhatsApp collectives, several organizations have emerged over the years to help residents safeguard their neighborhood. These include SF SAFE, which provides tools, knowledge, and skills to help prevent crime and violence; the Neighborhood Safety Team, a San Francisco Police Department unit that focuses on crime prevention and safety awareness; and Neighborhood Watch Groups.

_{Photo, top: Last month Reno’s front entrance was covered with wood. Thomas Hunter II}