Three teenage boys attempting to swipe computer equipment from the International Studies Academy in Potrero Hill were busted after a witness nearby spotted the boys using a chair to scramble through a window Sunday afternoon. The three boys, all of whom are in their mischievous years between 14 and 16 years old, were nabbed while trying to flee the scene. more ›

A 76-year-old woman was attacked in her home on 20th Avenue near Moraga in the Sunset District Thursday night. A second 56-year-old woman delivering food to the elderly woman's home around 9:20 p.m. was also attacked when she walked in on the robbery in progress. The second woman escaped to call for help, but the suspect — an Asian male, according to the Bay City News report — had already left the scene in a light-colored sedan. more ›

A bumbling cat burglar managed to get himself trapped, and surrounded by cops, while trying to escape down a brush-covered cliff on the eastern face of Telegraph Hill last evening. The drop is about eight to ten stories, and the SFPD decided just to wait out the dude, who remained on a ledge hidden among the brush into the wee hours refusing assistance. more ›

Just after 7 p.m. on Friday a teenage girl was robbed at gunpoint and pistol-whipped by a 30-year-old thief on the 100 block of Valencia, near Market Street. When her boyfriend tried to intervene as the robber fled into a green four-door vehicle, the suspect shot at him, but missed. He took off with the girl's purse. more ›

Early Saturday morning around 2:30 a.m, a 28-year-old woman was punched and pushed into a sedan by a group of five suspects who stole her wallet and cellphone on the edge of Sunnydale and Bayshore neighborhoods, Bay City News reports. After stealing her valuables, the driveby muggers dropped the victim off over a mile and a half away on Russia Avenue on the other side of Crocker Amazon Playground in the Excelsior. more ›

Over in Bernal Heights, though people still sometimes get robbed while walking home from Glen Park BART, the crimes that have been on everyone's minds lately in the 'hood are a recent spate of succulent and plant thefts from residents' yards. Well, probably not on everyone's minds, but Bernalwood certainly isn't taking this lying down. more ›

A suspect thought to be a man wanted by the FBI for two bank robberies in Irvine, CA was killed after a shootout with SFPD near Buena Vista Park yesterday evening. The FBI, who had been tracking the suspect using the GPS in the BMW he stole in Orange County, alerted SFPD that the so-called "Gen X Bandit" (just look at that slacker look he's sporting) was thought to be in San Francisco. Local cops found the suspect in the vehicle near Buena Vista park around 5:40 p.m. yesterday, at which point he attempted to mow down the officers in the stolen Beamer. more ›

So, a desperate-seeming and possibly mentally unstable Asian dude walked into a Bank of America in Corte Madera around 4 p.m. yesterday waving a gun around and raving about the corruption of international banking systems. The man told customers they were free to leave, and at least one did. The 25-year-old gunman proceeded to take nine people hostage, including three bank employees, for a few hours while he posted various grievances against the bank in the bank's windows. He harmed no one, and threatened no one, and ultimately let all the hostages go. The police confirmed he had some mental health problems but perhaps had not been being treated for them (hi, Tucson), and when the standoff finally ended (after the man was allowed to speak with some bank officials on the phone), the standoff ended and the man was arrested and sent for a psychiatric evaluation. The gun, as it turned out, was a pellet gun. [Larkspur-Corte Madera Patch] more ›

Last Friday, a man in a passable Caltrans uniform knocked on the door of a home in Woodside, claiming to be performing inspections for possible post-storm landslides. As it turns out, while the man at the door was talking to the homeowner another suspect slipped in the back and stole jewelry out of the master bedroom. more ›

21-year-old Walter Sayles went to speak with the Oakland police about being shot at around 5 a.m. yesterday morning. Cops started speaking with Sayles about some robberies that were happening in the area, and Sayles ended up admitting his involvement in over 30 of them, in Oakland, San Leandro, and elsewhere. more ›

According to BCN (via CBS 5) three people have been mugged at gunpoint while meandering in the "northeast and north central part of Berkeley" the the last few weeks. The first incident occurred around 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 30 on Acton Street near Cedar Street. Similar incidences occurred n Oct. 7 and Oct. 12. [CBS 5] more ›

What's up with all the home invasions lately? A suspect by the name of Juan Carlos Vasquez was arrested in the Mission yesterday in connection with a five-hour (!) home invasion robbery in South San Francisco that put a 74-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman in the hospital with beating injuries. Police identified Vasquez by his car, a Ford F-150. [ABC7] more ›

Three separate violent robberies occurred in Glen Park on Tuesday night, all possibly committed by the same suspects. First, three men in a dark car ran down a bicyclist and stole his messenger bag near the Glen Park BART Station Tuesday night. Happening at little before 7:15 p.m., a 44-year-old man, who was riding down Arlington Street, was hit by a "dark hatchback" from behind. The Examiner reports that the three men got out of the car, took his bag, fought with the victim, and took off. more ›

Did you happen to hear about this art theft down in Pebble Beach in which 13 paintings, totaling somewhere between $27 million and $80 million in value depending on who you ask, were stolen in potentially one of the biggest art heists on record? Well, the well-to-do victims of the theft, Benjamin Amadio and Ralph Kennaugh, are now being considered suspects by the Monterey County Sheriffs Dept., who are investigating whether the entire thing is a hoax. Amadio and Kennaugh, who both hail from Boston, are so far refusing to take a lie detector test, and they "compromised the integrity" of the investigation by leaking a ransom note to the media. more ›

The manhunt is on for this gangsta, who allegedly robbed six Bay Area banks over the course of ten days this month. They say he's between 5' 7" and 5' 10", white, slim, with silver hoop earrings and tattoos on his neck (which, obvi, describes most of the Mission, minus the hoop earrings). He apparently doesn't wear a mask because there's a security camera photo, and he didn't have anything to do with this BofA situation a few weeks ago -- he prefers smaller heists, like a Bank of the West in Vacaville, and a Guaranty Bank in Burlingame. Any info or leads, call the SF FBI office at 415-553-7400. more ›

After weeks of relative guilt-free robberies in the East Bay, two people were apprehended last night after nail salon was shook down. Last night "two men wearing ski masks, at least one of them armed, burst into the nail salon at 10814 Bancroft Ave. shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday." The two were nabbed after shortly after taking off in a getaway car. According to the Oakland Tribune, authorities believe the two are "responsible for at least some of a series of similar robberies throughout Oakland," including hits at Nomad Cafe on Shattuck Avenue, the Kerry House bar on Piedmont Avenue and the Full; Moon Seafood Restaurant on MacArthur Boulevard. However, it isn't clear at this point if the two are connected to any of the other takeover robberies. more ›