Break-in at club prompts regulars to start fundraiser
Cat Club General Manager Randy Maupin received an unexpected call from his head of security this week.
The dancing and drinking establishment in San Francisco’s SoMa district had been broken into.
After the call Wednesday around noon, Maupin rushed to the club to survey the damage.
“It just looked like a war zone, especially behind the bar, where they just ripped apart the registers,” Maupin said.
Someone broke into the club around 4 a.m. Wednesday through the back door, destroyed the registers, rifled through the office and took the club’s safe and alcohol.
“It’s like coming to your own home and seeing someone ripped through your house,” he said.
The club had security cameras that recorded the break-in. Video showed someone filling up one of the street plastic garbage cans with alcohol and the club’s safe, then wheeling it off, Maupin said.
Maupin called police, who came to survey the scene at the club at 1190 Folsom St. He estimated the damage and losses to be $15,000 to $20,000.
“Some venues that are operating post-pandemic are kind of hand-to-mouth, so something like this or something bigger than this could easily just wipe out a venue,” he said. “Luckily, we do have some support from our clients.”
A GoFundMe was created by a Cat Club customer and friend of Maupin’s to support the venue, topping $15,000 in donations Sunday.
“At the club, we have a lot of clientele that consider it home,” he said. “They’ve been coming to our venue for years because it’s a safe space for them.”
Some people have been coming to the club for as long as Maupin has worked there — since 1999, he said.
When he first heard about the break-in and saw items thrown everywhere in the club, Maupin said he was shocked, then angry.
“We felt violated,” he said. “It’s our home.”
Maupin remembers only one other break-in at the club, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Someone had taken alcohol and some hoodies, he said.
Maupin said he also heard of similar crimes against other businesses nearby.
As of Saturday, Maupin had not received any follow-up from the police regarding the investigation. The San Francisco Police Department did not respond Saturday to a Chronicle inquiry on the status of the investigation.
“Support your local venues,” he said. “Remember to take care of each other.”