A combination of surveillance cameras and a drone resulted in a Walgreens burglary suspect being arrested shortly after allegedly robbing the store, and while he was trying to sell those stolen goods at 24th and Mission, according to SFPD.

The San Francisco Police department has been using their newly approved drones for about five months now, and one feature the department says will be a game-changer is the drones’ ability to track and chase a suspect. But the drone operation also involves the use of automated license plate readers and surveillance cameras.

These and other surveillance tools helped catch the culprit, according to SFPD, when they arrested a man who allegedly stole $2,500 worth of merchandise from an SF Walgreens last week, and cameras identified that man selling those very stolen items at 24th and Mission streets.


According to a press release from SFPD, 23-year-old suspect Taji Muhammed and an accomplice robbed the Walgreens at First and Mission streets last Wednesday around 12 noon, stealing “more than $2,500 in merchandise.” The department procured surveillance video from the store

"Using newly obtained mobile security units from LiveView Technologies and public safety cameras at 24th and Mission streets, officers spotted a person matching the description of one of the suspects attempting to sell the stolen merchandise,” the department said in the release.

Image: LVT

Wait, what are “mobile security units from LiveView Technologies?” Apparently, they are these units seen above, which are quite large, but solar-powered and wireless. This SFist correspondent has spotted them before at 16th and Mission as well as at 24th and Mission streets, and I thought it was pretty funny that the illegal vendors were just sitting on them like they were park benches. But apparently they have some utility at catching illegal vendors.  

In this case, while the suspect was selling the items outside the BART station, the mobile security cart-thingy identified him as a strong match with one of the Walgreens suspects. Officers closed in, Muhammed fled on foot, but a drone was following overhead. Police were able to apprehend him.

It’s unclear how much time transpired between the Wednesday (October 30) and the Mission and 24th street arrest. Regardless, Muhammed was booked on charges of second-degree burglary, grand theft, organized retail theft, and resisting arrest.

Per SFPD, they’d conducted “blitz operations” the previous day at Walgreens stores on Castro Street and Potrero Avenue, arresting 13 suspects and recovering $1,600 worth of stolen merchandise. That merchandise has been returned to the Walgreens store, as has most of the $2,500 worth of merchandise in the Muhammed case.

While an arrest has been made, a second suspect is still at large, and the investigation is still ongoing. If you have any information, you’re asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Related: Meet the New Drones the SFPD Will Be Using (and Is Actually Already Using) [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Police via Vimeo