A person was struck by a car and killed this morning while fleeing two San Francisco police officers, who suspected him of stealing from a Nob Hill Trader Joe’s, the police department said.
Both officers were also struck by the car, and are in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspected thief used to work at the grocery store, according to an employee who was at work that morning. Trader Joe’s confirmed that a former employee was involved in the incident.
“We are aware of the tragic accident involving a former Trader Joe’s Crew Member and members of the San Francisco Police Department that occurred this morning,” wrote Nakia Rohde, Trader Joe’s public relations manager, in a statement to Mission Local.
He “walked right in” to the store before it had opened for the day, said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak publicly. The front door was unlocked, they added. Staff watched as the man walked toward the wine section and grabbed a bottle.
They recognized the tall, 20-something, man, the employee said — he’d been their coworker for about six months.
“Get out of the store,” the employee recalled staff yelling. A handful of workers walked the former colleague out, then notified police officers who were already on the premises, the employee said.
The officers were responding to another incident: A car had been lit on fire in the Trader Joe’s parking lot just before 7 a.m., according to a witness and a police dispatch log.
Police said they responded to reports of a theft at the Trader Joe’s at 7:36 a.m. and attempted to detain the suspect. Police calls for service noted a “suspicious person” and an officer in need of help.
The suspect allegedly resisted arrest and ran into the street. Two officers followed.
A “tussle” ensued in the middle of busy California Street between the officers and the alleged thief, the employee said. Then all three were struck by a vehicle driving east on California Street, authorities said.
A photo taken by a witness at 7:40 a.m. shows one officer under the front of a black Lexus while a handful of other officers gathered around the vehicle.
The officer was pinned beneath the vehicle and had to be removed by firefighters who arrived on the scene around 7:45 a.m., the department said. Paramedics administered aid to everyone who had been struck.
The officers have not been publicly identified, and an investigation is ongoing. The driver of the vehicle remained on the scene and was cooperative, the department said.
“Our store has been part of this neighborhood for almost 14 years, and we feel compassion for all involved,” Rohde wrote to Mission Local on behalf of Trader Joe’s.
“There have been way more people stealing,” said the employee. “I’ve been scared something violent like this would happen.”
“It happens so much it feels like this could have been prevented a long time ago.”
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
this is tragic all around. what is most baffling, though, is how the car managed to hit three people (including 2 cops) in the middle of the street. at 7:40am, driving downtown, you are facing east, directly into the sun. so that was definitely a factor. but the video footage shows the car, moving quite slowly, had at least a half block notice of the scrum of people in the street. was it a call, a text, checking spaceX’s price? it is truly sick. this should not have happened. I feel bad for everyone involved, but I hope the driver is never allowed to drive again. this should be a lesson–twice a day, every day, the sun is low and potentially interfering with optimal visibility. so PAY ATTENTION! and while people hate on waymos, I would bet this would not have happened without a distracted driver.
tragic all around, but I am still trying to imagine how a driver, paying attention, could have plowed into 3 people (including 2 uniformed cops) involved in a “tussle” in the middle of busy California Street. I suppose it happened because they were driving directly into the sunlight, in which case it would be a case of bad timing. still, should not have happened.
Well, apparently it’s a disgruntled former employee who probably shouldn’t have been hired in the first place. He probably is mad because he got laid off or fired, but he must’ve had issues to begin with, but Trader Joe’s is famous for hiring oddballs .tough location there at the outer edge of the tenderloin, I remember when it was Cala market years ago
Who was the driver? Were they charged? Are the police officers involved okay and/pr returning to duty?
Died for a bottle of wine. That’s tragic.
Who is the dummy driving the car?
I cannot understand how the driver hit them Why didn’t they stop? They were moving slowly….
Absolutely heartbreaking for everyone involved.
I live near that TJ’s, go there all the time. Reminds me of the theme music for “Cops.” “Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Run from the cops into the street and get run down and killed by a passing car, apparently. I have sympathy for the motorist who will have to live with that memory for the rest of his or her life. The Human Comedy.
cops killing and risking their own life over a bottle of wine to protect a corporate dollar. and the trader joes employee being a snitch to protect corporate money. both the pigs and the employee are on the wrong side, bunch of bootlickers.
the 1% is the real enemy you morons
I agree with you Joe- all around stupidity and tragedy ! Too much bad mojo with Trader Joe’s recently. People dying stealing food when we live in a time of abundance and trigger happy cops……I mostly will shop at rainbow, grocery outlet, and small stores…and Mandela in the east bay when I’m there
That’s the wrong framing, and you should know better. We’ve all seen what happens when theft like this is dismissed as “no big deal”: shoplifting runs rampant, the store closes, and the neighborhood suffers.
What a tragedy over a mere bottle of wine by a former employee. Perhaps a “shoplifter killed” poster outside the store will be the ultimate warning to those thinking crime pays.