Last week, the Examiner ran slightly sensational story (with an exceptional lede, we might add) about the rise in thefts at local nightclubs. According to inspectors with the Entertainment Commission, the latest problem at nightlife venues around the city wasn't violence spilling out on to the streets, but a scourge of pickpockets plaguing venues like the euro-friendly Ruby Skye.
Thefts at the untz-untz, bump-and-grind, "where's my purse?" kind of places are fairly common as it is, given the sort of human interactions that are going on there, but the number of reported incidents has "dramatically increased" in the past six months or so. One Ruby Skye pickpocket was recently busted (on a Monday night, no less) with a haul of five cellphones worth around $1,700 total. (We're guessing those were all smartphones.)
While that should be a good enough warning to keep ahold of your iPhone when that stranger in the corner starts getting handsy, one local club-going gal was unfortunately robbed by a guy she trusted enough to leave the club with. According to Bay City News, the 27-year-old woman reported waking up at her Tendernob apartment yesterday morning (again, with the weeknight clubbing) to find a man she had brought home from a club the night before robbing her of her cellphone and cash. When the woman said something, the man pushed her and took off with the goods.
Police have yet to find the one-night-stand robber, but they did offer a handy tip for keeping your belongings safe if there's lackluster club security or you're too tipsy to pay attention: use the coat check. As one Entertainment Commission inspector noted, "We’re not getting reports of robberies from the coat check."
[SFEx]
[BCN/Appeal]