San Francisco Richmond District business owners frustrated over burglary, vandalism
SAN FRANCISCO -
Six businesses on Clement Street in San Francisco's Richmond District picked up the pieces after a series of break-ins, thefts and vandalism.
The small business owners said they're frustrated after being repeatedly targeted.
They called on city leaders and police for help. One burglary was caught on surveillance video. It showed someone breaking into Lime Tree restaurant around 4 a.m. on Tuesday.
"My right has been violated," restaurant owner Siok Ming Tjong said the thief stole two tablets, a small amount of cash and damaged the register. He estimated that his total loss to be $3,000.
"It's not fair. I'm working so hard every day just trying to make a living," Tjong said. He runs two restaurants and also works part-time as a real estate agent to support his family.
The businesses involved in either burglaries or vandalism that same morning include; D and A Cafe, which had a broken glass door. Toy Boat and Blue Danube Coffee House were also hit.
The latter had its front glass-door broken.
KTVU obtained surveillance video which shows the suspect traveling by scooter.
"I wasn't happy, but I wasn't mad. It's just part of running a business for me," Blue Danube's owner Jimmy Hsu said luckily in his case, the person didn't get into his business.
But unfortunately, he and other merchants said their businesses have been broken into before and more than once.
"The damage behind this metal plate the wood was broken into," Roozbeh Falahati,, owner of Hamburger Haven. He said his restaurant was broken into twice in a span of three months.
The most recent incident took place in December.
He and other merchants said they've asked for police patrols during the overnight hours when most incidents have taken place.
"To have a police presence in a few of the commercial corridors would make sense when you have an uptick in burglaries," said Falahati.
"We just want to do our business peacefully and we want to feel safe when we're doing it. Because running the business is already hard and we don't need something like this to add on top of it," said Tjong.
Supervisor Connie Chan who represents the Richmond District, released a written statement, which said in part, "I have been calling on the mayor to provide Richmond with equal public safety resources, because it is not enough for our mayor to just focus on downtown. The rest of the city, including the Richmond, deserves the same level of attention and dedication."
KTVU reached out to the San Francisco Police Department. It said this is an open and active investigation.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU.