San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Chief supports officers who let theft suspect go
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott is defending officers’ decision to release a man who was allegedly stealing a catalytic converter in an incident that sparked public outrage.
“I support their decision because the facts, as I know them, confirm that there was no probable cause,” Scott said in a statement released Friday night. Police also made body camera footage from the incident available to the public.
Officers responded to a call at around 3 a.m. Aug. 16 of a possible theft in progress, according to a police statement. Police initially received reports that two people may have been cutting a catalytic converter from a vehicle at 24th Avenue and Anza Street in the Richmond District. Multiple 911 callers provided descriptions of suspect vehicles traveling in different directions, a description of a person, and information on a possible victim vehicle, according to police.
When officers arrived, they found a man standing next to a Honda Accord with a car jack sitting on the ground, according to police. They detained the man, who was wearing dark pants, a hoodie and dark gloves and told officers he had just been hanging out with friends. When asked whether the car jack belonged to him, the man responded: “No, but it’s just on the ground,” according to the body camera footage. He also said he found the gloves on the ground nearby.
The catalytic converter was damaged, but no cutting tool was located on the man or in the area. When asked, the man denied the vehicle was his, denied he went into the vehicle and denied cutting the catalytic converter.
“So you’re just hanging out with this jack you found on the ground?” an officer asked. Officers at the scene theorized he was accompanied by other people who had since left the area, according to footage. The man then said he was dropped off by his friends in the area, and had been walking around for about two hours, happening upon the car jack and the damaged Honda. Police asked him why he didn’t get an Uber: “I don’t have money,” he responded.
“Unless he comes back with warrants I got nothing on him,” another officer said at the scene, according to body cam footage.
Police then learned the man was on probation for receiving stolen property. But, officers were unable to locate the owner of the vehicle to determine the extent of new damage or an estimation of the cost of repair.
After consulting with a supervisor, police decided to release the man.
“You’re free to go, OK?” officers said, giving him directions to a nearby bus station.
Shocked witnesses who reported the crime were told the man could not be arrested because officers didn’t know who owned the Honda — computers were down citywide, leaving them unable to run the license plate number. Without that information, police said there was no victim.
Scott confirmed computer systems were down, adding that officers told witnesses the necessary elements for an arrest were missing — namely a power tool and a victim.
The incident created outrage and frustration among some residents and witnesses who have decried police inaction. Scott said an investigation is still ongoing, and the case is open and active.
“To see this statement feels like a slap in the face,” Lauren Lindsay said of Scott’s statement. Lindsay said she witnessed the police response from her apartment at 24th Avenue and Anza Street in the Richmond neighborhood along with her roommate, Morgan Heller.
Heller said she and Lindsay have been contacted by police three times in an attempt to gain footage of the event. Even though she sent all of the images and video she and Lindsay had each time, according to Heller, one of the officers called the footage she sent “not at all helpful” and continued reaching out.
“I don’t understand what my responsibility is here,” she said. Lindsay added: “They seemed really unorganized, honestly.”
Lindsay said reading Scott’s statement did not make her feel any safer in the city. “It doesn’t surprise me that this is not an uncommon occurrence,” she added.