Longtime San Francisco Merchants Lament Recent Spike in Burglaries
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- A crime wave is sweeping through San Francisco and many business owners are frustrated. They've struggled through the pandemic and now thieves are robbing them blind.
Salt Salon was one of many businesses hit this week.
"It's getting tougher and tougher -- every blow that we get, it's a lot. It's a lot that we've been put through," said salon owner Cirrus Blaafjel.
Blaafjel's salon survived the pandemic. Now, she's the latest victim of a rash of burglaries occurring in San Francisco.
"We've been open four weeks now and restocked the whole salon so we can get back to work and then it was all gone," she said.
According to the San Francisco police department, the city has seen roughly a 62 percent increase in burglaries through the first six weeks of 2021.
Footprint in the Sunset District was hit twice Friday morning.
"I feel so bad for my employees and for my community in the Sunset. You just don't expect that but it's becoming a reoccurring theme and you're not safe in any district in San Francisco anymore," said Footprint owner Michael Hsu.
Hsu shared surveillance images with KPIX.
The first break-in happened at 4 a.m. The thieves knew how to break the window without tripping the alarm and went straight for the jackets.
An hour later, Hsu says, it appears a looter came in to grab what he could find.
These two longtime San Francisco business owners said they barely recognize the city they love.
"We're already in a pandemic, everyone is already hurting. We just want to be back to normal, whatever that means," Hsu said.
