San Francisco resident Jesse Hunt stepped out on his morning walk around the Cow Hollow neighborhood Wednesday and noticed an all-too-familiar sight: piles of broken glass sitting in the gutters and on the sidewalks beneath a row of parked cars, all of their windows smashed.
Smashed car windows have become so common in San Francisco that many people don’t even blink as they step over the crushed glass. And those victimized by break-ins frequently lament a lack of response from police and prosecutors.
Hunt’s car was not among those with smashed windows Wednesday but both he and his girlfriend have been victims in the recent past. His car was broken into on the Fourth of July, he said, and his girlfriend fell victim to a smash-and-grab about a month ago.
“They caught the guy while he was stealing from her car,” he said, but there’s been no follow-up since from police or the district attorney’s office.
After spotting the line of car after car after car with busted windows, Hunt took a video. A friend posted it on social media, where it hit a nerve with many who expressed exasperation over the issue. In the point-of-view video, Hunt walks down the street, pointing the camera at a long line of parked cars and zooming in on the damaage inflicted on a few. At least seven of the dozen cars have shattered passenger-side windows and tell-tale broken glass on the sidewalk outside.
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Car break-ins, particularly smash and grab burglaries, have been a problem in San Francisco for decades. But the problem picked up noticeably about three to four years ago. In 2017, 31,122 break-ins were reported, a Chronicle investigation found.
Areas frequented by tourists were among the most common locations for break-ins, though they take place all over the city, according to The Chronicle’s SF Car Break-in Tracker, which uses data from the San Francisco Police Department.
Break-ins fell sharply when the shelter in place regulations took place in March, and the near-disappearance of tourists, who often leave valuables in their easily recognizable rental cars or vehicles with out-of-state license plates, was part of the reason, according to experts.
Some folks, like Hunt, suspect that’s caused the window-smashers to turn their attention to locals.
“There are no more tourists in San Francisco, so now they’re preying on the residents,” Hunt said. “It’s just crazy.”
After viewing the video, San Francisco Police Department spokesman, Officer Adam Lobsinger, said it appeared to show the 1700 block of Green Street and that the department had not yet received any reports by late morning.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@ctuan
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December 10, 2020 at 06:54AM
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Video shows familiar, frustrating San Francisco scene: Car after car with smashed windows - San Francisco Chronicle
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