Last week a stranger strolled right in through the front door of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street and waltzed right back out with a $23,000 violin. The instrument, a one-of-a-kind Caressa & Francais from the 1920's, was plucked out of a fifth-floor classroom where it had been left unattended while its owner checked her emails in a computer lab. According to the Examiner, two women shared an awkward elevator moment with the suspect just before the theft occurred. The man reportedly told the witnesses, "You guys are pretty white-bread here, so no one's going to take your stuff."

One of the two witnesses spotted the man again, this time with a black violin case slung over his shoulder, and followed him to Van Ness Station where he caught an inbound T-Third. It's also where he walked right under the surveillance camera, giving us the nice mug shot you see here. SFPD Inspector Brian Danker is on the case, telling the Examiner "We desperately need to ID him, and more important, we need to recover that violin." The Muni camera footage also shows the suspect getting off the train at Powell Street station, so if you see a light-haired man dressed in black busking with a violin in Powell station this morning, please do call the Police Department's anonymous tipline at (415) 575-4444 or inspector Danker at (415) 614-3463.

ABC7 has the video report, with a cameo from Dan Ashley's creepy hair:

[ABC7]
[SFExaminer]