A home invasion robbery in San Francisco has left an elderly man and his family terrified and angry.
The home invasion happened less than an hour after his daughter left for work during his daily nap Monday afternoon.
84-year-old De, who is hard of hearing, said he woke up to a lot of noise, He then saw a man with a crowbar ransacked his home, demanding money.
“I need your money, I need your money,” De said.
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He said the man hit him on the head with the crowbar, but fortunately, not hard enough to hurt him. De gave the suspect the cash he had.
“I don’t know why I was so calm. I gave him money, not a lot. He ransacked the house. A lot of ransacking. I'm OK, not as scared compared to when I saw him,” De said.
San Francisco police confirmed Friday that they responded to the robbery Monday in the Sunset District shortly after noon. Police said the robber got away, so they are looking for video or tips that might help them catch him.
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But despite how he feels, De wanted to tell his story as a warning to others.
“Be careful, it’s difficult to plan but be careful,” he said.
De’s daughter, Diane, has a different take. She believes the robber targeted her dad because he’s Asian.
“It’s a huge violation and it's beyond upsetting. I’m angry,” she said. “He thinks that people doesn’t know that Asian people live in here. I think people can tell. There’s this perception that maybe Chinese people, maybe all Asian people like to keep cash and valuables in their homes. We don’t because we know that there is that perception,” she said.
As for Diane and her family, they have already made changes and encourage others to do the same.
“We had somebody come by and put this up. So, there’s no way to kind of cut and out your hand through, and we changed this lock,” she said.
