Plywood covers portion of Gucci store in San Francisco after apparent smash-and-grab. https://t.co/OspWpYSMkd pic.twitter.com/9JPl2aabiS
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) July 16, 2017
The rarefied environs of Union Square's Gucci boutique were quite literally shattered Saturday morning, when a car-driving thief smashed into their storefront.
According to KRON 4, it was 2:49 a.m. Saturday when a driver "plowed into the front door" of Gucci's self-described "San Francisco Flagship" store at 240 Stockton Street, which is between Geary and Post Streets.
The suspect then "stole several handbags," KRON 4 reports. Gucci purses, which are notoriously high-end, all cost well in excess of $1000.
Glass from the boutique's "broken triple-pane windows littered the sidewalk" in front of the store early Saturday, CBS 5 reports. But "after crews cleaned up the debris, the store was open for business on Saturday." NBC Bay Area reports that the shattered facade was still "boarded up with plywood" Saturday evening.
Diligent crime-watchers might recall that the practice of driving vehicles into stores for the purpose of theft reached a fever pitch a few years ago, when smash-and-grab thieves hit Montgomery Street's Wells Fargo museum, a Fisherman's Wharf Patagonia store, a West Portal audio/video store, and multiple heists at Music Lovers Audio and Video on Bush Street. In fact, we named that type of robbery "Officially The Crime To Commit Of Early 2015," a title that's arguably since been taken by daylight car break-ins like those presently plaguing Alamo Square.
Are smash and grabs mounting a comeback with this weekend's brazen heist, or was this weekend's crime a throwback? Guess we'll have to wait and see, as for now police reportedly keeping mum on the case, and declining to say exactly what was swiped in the Gucci robbery. And don't expect to get a look at the thief or thieves: According to KRON 4, the San Francisco Police Department says that they are "not releasing any surveillance video of the incident."
Previously: Smash-and-Grab Is Officially The Crime To Commit Of Early 2015