Snatch and Grab in the People's Republic of San Francisco

Here's an interesting method for urban primitives to finance their "Just Do It" Nike athletic shoes purchases.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

BART saw a significant surge in thefts of cell phones and laptops in the past year, with the No. 1 target being passengers on trains running through San Francisco stations, where 512 robberies and thefts were reported in 2019.

Systemwide, BART police records show, 1,180 devices were reported stolen last year — that’s an increase of 288 thefts over 2018.

“The typical snatch-and-grab occurs when the train doors open and the victim is not paying attention,” BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez said.

According to BART, the thieves are often juveniles. They eyeball someone engrossed in their device as the train is pulling into a station, then grab the phone or laptop and run off the train just before the doors close. That leaves the stunned victim and any witnesses trapped on the receding train as the thief makes his getaway.

The thieves then often head for Civic Center Station, where there has long been an active thieves market around U.N. Plaza.

“They can quickly fence the phone for $300 to $400, depending on the model. And they are paying cash,” Alvarez said.

The thieves usually turn off the phone immediately after the grab, so it can’t be tracked by its signals.

“They got smart,” Alvarez said.

-RW