It has been a full week of crime in the Mission District. A shooting Wednesday took residents by surprise and sent one man to the hospital, and a woman jumped the fence of Marshall Elementary and took many of the school’s garden and earthquake preparedness supplies. For one store owner, this week marked another one with broken windows.
Yesterday, the owner of Time Frame on Valencia and 15th, Curtis Hawes, had to deal with the store’s fourth smash-and-grab incident since March. He says the security in the building, both alarms and cameras, have not been enough to deter the criminals.
When the owner Hawes opened in November of 2012, he commission a handmade sign in the shape of glass frames and hung it under the awning. It was the perfect sign handmade for the vintage glass frames he sells.
The first incident occurred in March 2014, Hawes said a person “took a tool and wedged it into the lock to bust it open in the middle of the night.” The alarm went off and surveillance video shows the incident. Although the thieves took some merchandise, it hasn’t been anything of great value, said Hawes.
Three months later, in June, there was another incident where a person smashed the window by the door. The attendant from the single room occupancy hotel next door called the police. The alarm went off again and the cameras caught the person on video breaking the big pane of glass.
On Monday, two guys on bicycles smashed the glass windows and one of the store’s showcases, said Hawes who reviewed the surveillance footage. The alarm didn’t go off this time, and the suspects returned three minutes later for more.
The store had another smash and grab on Wednesday morning with thieves again taking inexpensive items. The big cost has been replacing the glass window replacements.
Hawes is worried that this keeps happening and that the incidents are not on the police radar because “the police are always slow, every single time. I don’t think it’s a high priority for them,” said Hawes, adding that he will have to consider other higher security options such as a metal gate.
Wednesday night incident at 14th and Guerrero
On Wednesday at 7:45 p.m., a 66-year-old woman asked the 34-year-old man who was sleeping in the doorway of her home on 14th Street and Guerrero to move and the man spit at her. When her 63-year-old husband came around the corner, the suspect pushed him and he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk.
Police have made an arrest. The 63-year-old was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for injury to the head.
If you have any information about any of the incidents described above you can leave an anonymous tip at Mission Station by calling 415-552-4558.
Crime is trauma and the county offers different services. Here is a link to a page of services.
Victims of violent crime can also contact the Trauma Recovery Center at UCSF.
A petition is the chicken way out. The key is contacting your local SF supervisor and telling them your concerns. That should be followed up with ATTENDANCE at board of supes meetings and police commission meetings. THAT is how democracy works. The petition nonsense is for the birds. Making your physical presence known scores way more points with politicians because they see that you’re real and they see that if the score well with you you might be inclined to donate money to their re-election campaign. THAT is how democracy works.
You are absolutely correct David,we need to get a petiton going on this.
If we want police to take care of our neighborhoods we must DEMAND walking patrols. Rather than spending money on dubious high-tech systems the SFPD needs to get back to basics with walking foot patrols so that the police KNOW the trouble spots. Alex Nieto wouldn’t have gotten shot and killed if there were local police walking in Bernal Heights who knew him. Same with the smash-n-grab situation. Police who walk beats KNOW their constituents and they can spot trouble areas right away. But you’ve got to go before the police commission and the board of supervisors and demand walking patrols, otherwise you won’t get them.