San Francisco police have just announced dozens of arrests of retail-theft suspects in what they're calling a "blitz" operation aimed at curbing shoplifting in the city from several stores where they say it is rampant.
The operation, led by officers from Ingleside Station, involved "coordinated efforts of uniformed and plainclothes officers who wait to arrest criminals inside a partner business," the SFPD says.
It sounds like four specific stores were the locales for this "blitz," which took place between May 13 and July 29 of this year. Police made a total of 61 arrests for retail theft during that approximately ten-week period, with the focus apparently on grocery theft.
The police don't provide the names of the retailers where these arrests took place, however the block addresses given in the department's release correspond with three Safeway locations, and one Walgreens store. These are on the 3300 block of Mission Street, the 5200 block of Diamond Heights Boulevard, the 2300 block of 16th Street, and the 800 block of Market Street.
The stores were chosen, police say, because of the high volume of reported shoplifting they have experienced.
Stolen goods were reportedly returned to the stores. A photo of stolen goods seaized by the police included spray disinfectant, bags of raw shrimp, packages of meat and cheese, and frozen chicken wings.
While nine of the suspects were booked into SF County Jail on suspicion of retail theft and/or outstanding warrants, 52 of the suspects were cited for shoplifting at the scene and then released.
The Walgreens on the 800 block of Market Street is notable as the site of an attempted theft that turned deadly last year, when security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony fatally shot Banko Brown following a physical scuffle, which stemmed from the attempted theft of some candy. The SF District Attorney, and subsequently the CA Attorney General's office, declined to file charges against Anthony in the case.
Related: Gov. Newsom Signs Anti-Retail Theft Bill, But Controversy Still Abounds
