Bernal Heights neighbors wonder: Where have all the sewer grates gone?

The whole thing takes less than a minute. 

Every few weeks at around 3 a.m., a tall, slim, mystery  man  appears on the security cameras of Bernal Heights. He is looking for one thing: a sewer vent cover. Specifically: all the sewer vent covers.

The small, square metal grates are designed to keep debris from clogging sewer system air vents. There are many of them dotting the sidewalks of San Francisco, so it isn’t long before the hunter finds his quarry. Bending down, he sweeps leaves and debris aside before fiddling with the screw and prying the grate loose, slipping it into a grocery cart and pushing the cart on to the next target. Behind him, on the sidewalk, is a perfectly square 4-by-4 inch hole. 

Things go missing off the streets of San Francisco all the time: packages, bicycles, cars. This is different. For one, sewer grates are worth nearly nothing. For another, the thief keeps coming back for more. 

Over the past few months, residents of Bernal Heights have woken up again and again to missing sewer grates. Each time, personal surveillance cameras around the neighborhood spot the same culprit: a mystery man with a beanie and few grocery bags, headlamp on to illuminate the sidewalk and obscure his face. They know his routine, they’ve contacted the police department and they’ve tried to secure their sidewalks. But the sewer grates — and the mystery man — keep disappearing. 

The thief struck first in early April this year, according to residents near Mullen Avenue. Karen Cook, a Bernal Heights resident, was up early the next morning to walk her dog. A neighbor pointed out that a sidewalk grate was missing, and suddenly, Cook saw holes everywhere.

“I thought, what the hell?” she said.

Cook and Finch headed home to investigate. Like many in the neighborhood, she has a Ring camera on her front door that records a few minutes of footage every time it detects motion. What she watched was the same thing seen in clips from other neighbors’ cameras: a mystery man, systematically removing all the grates he could find. 

“I realized, ‘Oh, it’s not a homeless guy, it’s this professional guy with a headlamp and everything.’”

At first, few neighbors cared. Some called 311 to report the issue; others headed to the nearest hardware store to address it themselves. But then, a few weeks later, the same thief was back, headlamp and grocery bags in tow.  

After three months of recurrent pilfering and repairs, the thief’s identity remains a mystery. His motives, even more so. Residents are vexed: What does one man want with so many sewer vent grates? And what keeps him coming back to Bernal Heights?  

Mystery motive

This is not the first time that San Francisco’s sidewalk infrastructure has gone missing. Last year, the San Francisco Police Department asked residents to “be on alert” for the theft of utility covers — those foot-long rectangular or elliptical cast iron or concrete lids that cover underground utility equipment — after nearly 400 were reported stolen over the previous two years. 

The department warned of “sizable holes in city sidewalks that create a tripping hazard for pedestrians,” and asked for the public’s help in identifying culprits. 

Those cast-iron utility covers make an obvious target: Many advertise the early 20th century “San Francisco Water Department,” and are decorated with an image of the Golden Gate Bridge.  They are relics, and well-made. Some newer models, made of  concrete, are used in home break-ins as a tool to break windows. 

But the sewer vent grates are a less obvious grab: Though some retain historical marks of the original builders of the city, many of those stolen are in far from pristine condition: The zinc alloy coated covers can be peeling, rusted, or covered in dirt. The Bernal Heights mystery thief does not discriminate: old, new, metal and plastic covers have all been taken. 

They do not appear to be sold as scrap. Zarc Recycling, a scrap metal recycling facility that takes walk-ins near Bernal Heights, reports that it has not seen any increase in vent covers brought to their facility. “We would never take anything that is branded as city property or looks stolen,” a representative said by phone. Other scrap metal companies agreed — Circosta Iron and Metal Co., the facility closest to the neighborhood, said that anyone who brought in something that looks like city property would be reported to the authorities. 

If the mystery man is in it for the money, the sewer grates are a poor way to do it: The prize for the mixed steel material of the replacement grates would be a mere three to five cents per pound, according to Zarc Recycling. Each sewer grate weighs in at about 280 grams; it would take about 32 grates to make a dollar. 

All signs point to this being a professional operation: On cameras, the mystery man moves quickly, and carries specific tools that can remove even the most well-secured grates. 

“I tried tamper-resistant screws,” one resident reported. “He removed the screw, took the grate, and put the screw back on!” (According to an employee in the power tools section at Discount Hardware, tamper-resistant screws are removable only with a drill or special bit that can be hard to find.)

Scrap metal isn’t the only way to turn a piece of the sidewalk into cash: With a few cans of spray paint, street artists can transform bits of metal into works of art worth hundreds of dollars. One local artist, Ongo, openly admitted to taking grates for his art in the past. But he says that this time, it’s not him. 

“I used to take loose (no security screw) ones when I came across them,” he wrote in response to an Instagram message from Mission Local. “But nowadays I just buy them new from the hardware store.”

The thefts are benefitting plumbing and hardware supply stores in the area, though: Sewer grate sales are booming. At Excel Plumbing Supply Showroom in the Mission District, perforated grates were nearly sold out on a recent Wednesday afternoon. “Someone steals it, and people get a ticket, and they come here,” a clerk representative explained. It’s not uncommon for those customers  to come back multiple times, said the clerk.  

City steps in

The stretch of sidewalk in front of your home is a funny kind of limbo. Though it’s used as a public space, under Public Works Code Section 706, the city holds the homeowner responsible for necessary repairs to it. Just days after the initial sewer grate thefts in Bernal Heights, neighbors who made 311 calls to report the holes received a notice from the city that they were required to repair damage to the sidewalk within 30 days. 

If they did not make the repairs themselves in that time, the notice continued, the city would make fixes, and send homeowners the bill.

Some Bernal residents, after calling 311, received notices not only for the missing grates, but other, previously unaddressed issues like cracks or holes in the sidewalk, which cost considerably more than $10 to fix. One neighbor called that “unfair and punitive.”

Residents who’d paid to replace their grates in April, meanwhile, soon found the sidewalks pockmarked with holes again: The neighborhood was hit on May 21, and then on June 7. Ring camera footage from Mullen Avenue, Brewster Street, and Montcalm Street showed the same man, and the same modus operandi. One frustrated resident joked in the neighborhood email thread, “A guy wearing a headlamp and likely has a propeller beanie top as well – it’s time for 2-4 a.m.. vigilantism.”

Cook reported that she had filed a report to the police, after emailing the captain of Ingleside Station to request more drive-bys. A few days later, she followed up with the cops to say that more homes had been hit. An officer told her they don’t see any 311 calls, and suggested that any concerned neighbors make a report in person at the station.

In a statement to Mission Local, the Ingleside Police Station acknowledged several reported thefts, but described the situation as nothing out of the ordinary. “The Ingleside Station has not identified a trend or experienced a notable increase in reports related to the theft of sewer or vent grates,” the statement read,“At the time, we cannot speculate as to why someone may be stealing these vents.”

Residents take matters into their own hands

Usually, the weekly gatherings held by the neighbors of Mullen Avenue involve music emanating from large speakers set outside someone’s garage. But on a recent Sunday, the speakers were silent. Serious business was at hand.

“It’s really dangerous, I think,” said Kevin Stamm, a resident and former general contractor, as the group discussed the sewer grate crime spree. “I’m worried all these holes in the sidewalk will trip someone soon.” Someone reported that they feared getting their cane, or the tip of their foot, stuck in the holes. Finch, Cook’s dog, had already fallen in.

“It’s all the way up to Cesar Chavez,” said one neighbor. “I see it everywhere.”

“It’s not that serious,” added another. “But constantly reporting it and fixing it ends up taking hundreds of hours of time.” 

Neighbors at the Mullen Avenue meeting shared their increasingly creative attempts to keep their grates in place. Cook told the group that, tired of repeated trips to the hardware store, she had bought a plastic grate — thinking that would be less desirable — and glued it into place using construction adhesive. Footage from May 21st on Cook’s Ring camera shows the thief prying that one off too, inspecting it, and slipping the plastic grate into his bag. 

Kevin Stamm told the group that  he spent nearly eight hours theft-proofing his sewer vent grate, which now boasts four screws, glue, steel and epoxy reinforcements, a stamped address, and a fresh paint job to disguise it as rusty steel. His grate is still secure, he reports — for now. 

Others have taken a more artistic approach. Colorful stencils, stamped addresses, and rainbow glitter now decorate many area vents, in hopes that the additions will make the grates less desirable. Some, having given up entirely, simply covered the hole with whatever they could scrounge up nearby — a rock, a container lid. One flipped a traffic cone upside down and stuffed it in. 

On a recent afternoon at Precita Park Cafe and Grill, Cook contemplated her next steps. She had urged people to report their missing grates to the police, but said, “It’s hard to know if people are actually reporting it or just bitching about it.” 

Three months in, Cook continues to wonder: Who is doing this? 

She is no closer to solving the mystery than when the thief first struck in April. “I’ve had everything stolen in San Francisco,” Cook said. “Even my cat’s grave marker. My motorcycle, my car — twice. I’ve had people come up on my steps and steal my planters. But the vent grate is new for me.”

“I thought about waking up at 2 a.m. to try to catch him,” Cook said. “Just to follow him around and see where he goes.” But, she acknowledged, a sewer vent grate is probably not worth the hours of lost sleep, and her Honda Civic isn’t made for stealth operations. 

Nonetheless, the identity of the mystery man bothers her. “I just want to know who’s doing this,” Cook said, scooping her dog Finch up into her lap. “When things are getting stolen from you, it just feels like a constant violation.” 

Behind her, on the street stretching back up into the neighborhood, the sidewalk was littered with holes.