An unidentified person at a Walgreens in San Francisco filmed a man shoplifting while customers and employees watched.
When one customer attempted to confront the man, who was dressed in a hoodie and wore a mask, he starting throwing bananas. The alleged thief also threw medicine bottles at one of the staff before leaving the store.
Ahsha Safai, a San Francisco Supervisor, introduced legislation in September to allow armed sheriff’s deputies to protect retail stores — “[T]his would add 800 deputies to the pool of 2,000 police officers eligible to provide security at stores during off duty hours,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“For me it was just a real stark eye-opener that this was happening,” Safaí said. “People could do it with impunity and our city was caught flat-footed.”
The Chronicle reported:
People responding to the Reddit post identified the scene of the crime as the Walgreens on Point Lobos Ave. near Lands End in the Outer Richmond. When contacted by The Chronicle for verification on Sunday, the manager of the Walgreens on Point Lobos hung up the phone.
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In early December, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that a Bay Area wide retail theft ring had been busted and an estimated $8 million worth of stolen goods from retailers like Walgreens, CVS and Target recovered from a warehouse. Five people pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and were expected to face sentences of up to three years in prison. During the investigation it was revealed that the goods were sold in foreign countries and the money laundered back in the states.
Both Walgreens and CVS have been regularly closing stores in San Francisco, but the Chronicle said the closures have not been officially attributed to the ongoing shoplifting epidemic.
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