Suspect Vehicle Backs Into Audio Vision Store in San Francisco in Smash-and-Grab

In yet another smash-and-grab, or rather, crash-and-grab, robbery in San Francisco, a four-door silver truck backed into a high-end audio visual store in Nob Hill, and the thief or thieves made off with about $100,000 of merchandise.

Audio Vision SF’s Randolph John said the truck backed into his store in the 1600 block of California about 4 a.m. and took a bunch of stereo equipment. The suspect or suspects fled the scene.

"Everyone was saying that this crew is out there," he said, standing outside his store, shattered glass littering the sidewalk. "You should be careful, you should look out."

But he said "this crew" is bold and didn't seem to care that they backed into his shop, which is in a highly trafficked spot. "That didn't stop 'em. They ripped up a bunch of things and got some products."

Police did not say what, if anything, was stolen. Police are reviewing video surveillance footage of the burglary. No arrests have been made and suspect description was not released.

Police were looking into whether the burglary was related to at least six similar crimes in the San Francisco Bay Area over the last year.

These types of thefts, where the burglars crash vehicles into store fronts, have been occurring throughout the Bay Area. There have been at least six since May 2014.

  • On Feb. 19, two burglars crashed their red minivan through a front plate glass window at a photography shop in Palo Alto, stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise before taking off.
  • On Feb. 13, a driver rammed a U-Haul truck into the Life Chiropractic College in Hayward, in an apparent break-in.
  • On Jan. 19, the Patagonia store near Fisherman's Wharf was the target of a smash and grab burglary in January after two men slammed a U-Haul van through its front door and took off with hundreds of dollars worth of jackets.
  • In November 2014, suspects crashed a vehicle into the Chanel boutique in San Francisco's Union Square.
  • In May 2014, a car rammed into the Apple store on Fourth Street in Berkeley where the suspect made off with laptops and iPhones.

NBC Bay Area's Ingrid Almaz and Stephen Wheelock contributed to this report.

 

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