SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – More people are getting their phone stolen in San Francisco. Many of the cases involve physical assaults and guns.
These violent and brazen cell phone robberies have become more frequent in the last week or so. One man says his wife recently got her phone stolen at gunpoint.
San Francisco Board Supervisor Rafael Mandelman says police are trying to find out if this is an organized crime ring.
"Some in neighborhoods I represent,” Mandelman said. “And in other parts of the city… often targeting women, often taking cell phones."
"It seems like there may be a pattern that we have seen over the last few days, and it seems like these incidents may be related,” he said.
Police logs from the last week show at least eight cell phone robberies. Some include being robbed at gunpoint or being physically assaulted. It’s happening all over the city in neighborhoods like the Mission, Tenderloin, Nob Hill and Outer Sunset.
According to the San Francisco Police Department crime dashboard, robberies overall are up 11 percent from this time last year.
"It is scary,” Madnelman said. “I don't think people should be living in fear, but also recognize we are in a city where there are people around who want your stuff."
Mandelman is reminding people to always be aware of their surroundings.
“Always be aware of your surroundings. Don't talk on your phone while you're walking down the street. Keep your phone in a place where people can't see you have it,” he said.
Mandelman says it’s also important that people report these crimes to police.
“The police look for patterns. In this case, it certainly looks like there is a set of assailants that are doing this in a couple of areas. We want to know all of the crimes that were part of this spree so that people can be appropriately charged and held accountable for what they have done. That can't happen if people don't file police reports,” he said.
KRON ON is streaming news live now
When filling out a police report for a cell phone robbery, be prepared to give the model number and serial number to police. You can get that from your phone carrier. KRON4 reached out to the police to get more information on this uptick of robberies. We have not yet heard back.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/XiCZL6q
No comments:
Post a Comment