San Francisco’s district attorney on Monday rolled out details on new charges for suspects allegedly participating in organized retail theft rings.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said organized retail theft has been a drag on the city for years.
“I want to be clear that retail theft is not a victimless crime and it’s not something that our stores of any size can absorb,” she said. “When you talk about stores closing their doors, they leave food deserts in certain communities. They force residents of our city to have to leave the city in order to get items that they need.”
Video released on social media showed San Francisco police arresting one suspect last month outside the REI in the city’s South of Market neighborhood. Investigators said their video showed the man taking $300 in backpacks from the store and walking out. They also believe he’s connected to 16 other thefts, totaling more than $8,000.
That kind of repeated crime is what a special police task force focused on this summer. A total of five people were arrested at the REI over the span of about a month. Investigators accuse them of taking more than $32,000 in merchandise.
The task force also arrested people at Safeway, Whole Foods and Target stores across the city. The suspects are all facing multiple charges, including organized retail crime and grand theft.
The task force also said it arrested people around Stonestown Galleria and other locations for fencing stolen items. According to investigators, those suspects are the middlemen who buy stolen goods from thieves and then sell them on the street for a profit.