Police arrest 6 suspects in attempted S.F. store theft

City officials say several arrests related to a recent theft at a San Francisco Walgreens are proof that the city is doing more to stop retail theft.

On Wednesday night, approximately eight people wearing ski masks rushed into a Walgreens in the 900 block of Geneva Avenue and began filling bags and a wagon with merchandise from the store, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The group fled the store on foot, but nearby police officers conducting a retail “blitz” operation were able to catch six of them, Police Chief Bill Scott said at a Friday press conference.

Those six — including two teenage boys — have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and organized retail theft, according to the Police Department.

“Blitz” operations have been carried out at both big and small retailers across the city, according to Scott. Last week, both uniformed and plainclothes officers monitoring San Francisco Centre on Market Street were able to arrest nine people suspected of shoplifting, police said.

“I know oftentimes when a crime occurs and videos circulate, there is a bit of a perception, a perception that these crimes are happening and a perception that nothing is being done,” Mayor London Breed said at the Friday press conference. “Well, in fact, something is being done.”

In September, the city allocated $15.3 million of a state grant for combating retail theft to the Police Department in order to pay for additional overtime for police officers, among other efforts. The city is also pushing more funding toward paying retired officers to patrol neighborhoods, according to Breed.

Breed said the city is going through a change in resources and deployment, but also “a change in our attitude around what we will do in San Francisco.”

“The message to everybody, I hope, is loud and clear: that this city is committed to changing the narrative, because this is a great city,” Scott said. “This is our city and we will do everything that we can to protect it.”

The investigation into the Walgreens case is ongoing. Scott said police are continuing to search for at least two other suspects who are believed to have stolen merchandise.

Anyone with potential information about the theft is being asked to call police at 415-575-4444 or send a text to TIP411.