San Francisco

Business Owners Raise Concern After String of Robberies in SF's Chinatown

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Business owners in San Francisco’s Chinatown said they can’t deal with any more thefts and robberies and they continue to plead for the city’s help.

In the last 24 hours, nearly 10 store owners said they were hit.

“They come three people, one in here, one in here, one back there, the one here they talk to me the one here already took here,” said B Hong, owner of B Jewelry.

Business owners said that working in San Francisco’s Chinatown is a constant fight to stay safe and make ends meet.

Business owners in San Francisco’s Chinatown said they can’t deal with any more thefts and robberies and they continue to plead for the city’s help. Stephanie Magallon reports.

“I try to work 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day seven days a week, never a day off, but they come to the store and everything is free, Hong said.

According to Hong, a group of thieves rushed into her jewelry store and left with up to $300 worth of merchandise on Saturday.

2 weeks before, they put all the jewelry on their hands as thieves left with hundreds more and a month before that, thousands of dollars in merchandise stolen.

“They keep come back, keep come back, keep come back, that makes you so scared and once I see those kinds of people come, you already scared you don’t want to do any more business,” Hong said.

At least 10 businesses were struck Saturday including Jade Bazaar.

Business owners told NBC Bay Area Sunday that the same group came in here, grabbed a bunch of jewelry, they then walked over this way, ended up grabbing some of these rings, then they were confronted, dropped everything and left empty handed.

Surveillance footage from Jade Bazaar showed a similar situation from just a few weeks ago. In the video, an employee is seen questioning the woman in the red jacket. That’s when the employee follows her and there’s a struggle before the woman runs out.

“The businesses I never see it like this, like a ghost town, they scare people away,” said Anita Chen, owner of Anita Jewelry and Jade Bazaar.

The business owners are asking for more help from police and tougher consequences for criminals.

“This is scare to coming to work, it’s not fair for our tax paying people,” Chen said.

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