SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – “It feels easily preventable, and yet so many people… their time here is ruined,” said Nashville resident Nicholas Keel.
Car break-ins are surging again in San Francisco. Up 10% in April compared to the previous month.
John Malatras car was broken into over the weekend near his Duboce Triangle home.
“You hear about this all the time, so I don’t leave anything in there,” Malatras said.
Chicago resident Jessica Hobt was not as lucky when she had her rental car broken into in Chinatown on Monday.
“The rental car place told us they get at least ten cars a day that has a window smashed,” said Jessica Hobt.
Nashville resident Nicholas Keel had his backpack stolen when his rental car was broken into while parked outside the Palace of Fine Arts Monday.
“If you want to live in SF, just don’t own a car, have anything in the garage. Or leave an offering out like it’s Halloween, ‘please take these things, thank you, come again.'”
The frustration is palpable among both locals and tourists.
“If you are not going to do anything about it, then at least let people know this is a part of our culture,” Keel added.
“It’s definitely something that makes it hard to live here, and it’s just a general feeling of being violated by someone in your space and knowing that’s going on in your neighborhood.”
Some areas have signs posted warning locals and tourists, but these days it seems your care can be broken into whether there’s something showing or not.
“I would do it differently, I wouldn’t have a car. I would come back without a car and take Ubers or walk or take the train, but I still had a great time.”
KRON4 reached out to the police to get updated stats and find out what their action plan is related to car break-ins. They told us they could not provide us any information today.
