California Driver Leaves Car Trunk Open to Deter Thieves From Breaking in

As a slew of smash-and-grab robberies have plagued the San Francisco Bay area, some drivers are resorting to extreme measures to save their cars from shattered windows. 

Parisa Hemmat, owner of Grand Flowers in Oakland, California, left the back hatch of her SUV open to show would-be thieves that there’s nothing to take in the vehicle. 

“There’s nothing in my car, and they can see that there’s nothing to take,” Hemmat said.

San Francisco’s mayor is pushing back on accusations of being soft on crime, and took a stand, calling for more aggressive law enforcement.

“It comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the bull**** that’s destroying our city,” Mayor London Breed said.

Meanwhile, the latest intelligence from law enforcement shows that the recent string of smash-and-grab thefts are often arranged on social media, and that the thieves may not even know each other before they zero in on their targets.

“They pick a target, and then they just put out the word on social media,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. “There are a good number of people who know each other, but a whole bunch more who go, ‘Hey, it's time to go thieving.’”

So even if one of the perpetrators is caught, it won't necessarily lead you to others, because there's not always a link between them, according to Wagstaffe.

Related Stories