A champagne heist at a Nob Hill store turned violent Tuesday, when the thief drove into a security guard who was attempting to thwart the crime.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, it was 4:35 p.m. Tuesday when the man, who witnesses say was aged around 25-30, skulked into a store on the 1000 block of Hyde Street, which is between California and Pine Streets.
The suspect "put several bottles of champagne in a bag," police say, then "walked out of the store without paying for the items."
Two of the store's security guards ran after the man, who "dropped the bag of bottles and jumped into his vehicle," which police say was a silver, 4-door Chevrolet.
Throwing the Chevy into reverse, the now-champagneless shoplifter hit one of the guards, a 33-year-old man, "in the stomach with the rear of his vehicle."
The second guard, a 41-year-old man, climbed "through the driver's side window to grab the keys out of the ignition," police say, but the fleeing thief sped up, and the guard "fell out of the window" and hit the ground.
Though, per policy, SFPD declined to name the business at which the crime occurred, there is a CVS/Trader Joe's on that block that seems to fit the description of the scene. When reached by SFist, a staffer at that Trader Joe's declined comment. A call to that CVS location was not returned at publication time.
Both guards were injured in the incident, police say. The guard who was struck by the reversing ruffian was transported to an area hospital with injuries that are not considered life threatening. The guard who fell from the vehicle as it peeled away refused medical attention at the scene.
The suspect, according to the SFPD, sped south down Hyde Street in his sliver vehicle. As of Wednesday morning, he remains at large.