An undercover auto burglary operation has resulted in the arrest Tuesday of one man and the seizure of about 1,000 stolen electronics items, according to an announcement from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office charged Quoc Le with eight felony and four misdemeanor counts of possession of stolen goods. In many cases, mobile phones, touch pads and other devices were sold and resold several times before being shipped out of the Bay Area, according to the news release.
"Car break-ins have been a longstanding problem in San Francisco for at least the past decade," Boudin said in the statement, adding that he created Operation Auto Pilot to stop the fencing networks responsible for so much property crime. "I commend our Special Investigations team that worked tirelessly for over a year to set up multiple sting operations to track the path of stolen goods, resulting in today's arrest and the recovery of over 130 file boxes full of stolen electronic devices."
As part of Operation Auto Pilot, Boudin said his office formed partnerships with the American Car Rental Association, SF Safe and community leaders to hear directly from victims of auto burglary and the groups working to help combat these crimes.
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"A major outlet for stolen goods is now shut down," said Sharky Laguana, President of the American Rental Car Association, according to the news release. "We thank the District Attorney's Office for their partnership and look forward to continuing to work together on this important issue."
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the seizure of stolen items were made by police. It has since been corrected to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
