Between February 2014 and February 2015, crime was up in almost all categories in the Northern District. Though rape and robbery in the Northern District were down (57 percent and 9 percent, respectively), there were four murders compared to no murders a year earlier and aggravated assaults increased by 7 percent. Meanwhile, property crimes on the Northside were down 12 percent for burglary, but otherwise up: auto theft (33 percent), theft from auto (55 percent), arson (80 percent), and other theft (10 percent).
The crimes below are a small snapshot of what the officers of Northern Station are doing. For a more comprehensive list, visit sf-police.org; under Compstat, select the link to Crimemaps.
VIEW FROM THE BALCONY
March 19, 2:21 a.m.
1700 block of Green Street
Officers responded to a report of a burglary in progress and immediately searched the surrounding area. They located a male suspect matching the description on the roof of the building. A resident positively identified the subject as someone she saw standing on her balcony; she said she had been sleeping when she awoke to noise outside on the balcony. She saw the subject on the balcony and started screaming; the subject meanwhile tried to pull the door back and forth in an attempt to get inside.
Several other residents in the building heard the screaming and called the police. One of those residents said he heard the screaming and got up; when he went to his living room, he found his balcony door was open and there was damage to the door.
The subject was transported to Northern Station and was later booked at County Jail for burglary.
WHAT CRIMINAL THROUGH YONDER WINDOW BREAKS
March 19, 9:36 p.m.
Laguna at Geary Streets
Witnesses called the police after seeing a male break a window on a vehicle, reach inside, and take out items. Officers arrived, they got a description of the suspect and set off in his last known direction of travel. Within minutes, they located the subject two blocks away, and he was positively identified by the witnesses. After contacting the owner of the vehicle and getting a description of the items inside, officers tried unsuccessfully to locate them in the surrounding area.
The subject denied breaking the window; he was booked at County Jail for burglarizing a vehicle.
INVISIBLE GUNMEN
March 26, 6:54 p.m.
Fulton at Buchanan Streets
Police responded to a call about shots fired in the area. They were unable to locate any suspects, gunshot victims, or witnesses, but they did discover a .45-caliber casing on a sidewalk on Buchanan Street between Grove and Fulton Street. A 9-mm casing was found in the parking lot of 762 Fulton Street.
While they were investigating, a citizen approached the officers and told them he had a bullet hole in the door of his vehicle, which was in that Fulton parking lot. He said he was several blocks away when he heard a couple gunshots; when he returned to his vehicle soon thereafter, he saw the bullet hole.
No additional information was provided regarding this incident.
WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO
March 27, 10:30 p.m.
2200 Block of Bush Street
A citizen flagged down an officer who was driving a Northern Station facilities truck. The citizen was a tourist visiting San Francisco with his family. Before the officer had a chance to direct the man to the station to make a report, the man told the officer that his son’s phone had been taken, and he was tracking it on his phone. The officer knew that he would be able to locate the suspect by tracking the phone, so he had the visiting tourist get into his truck, and he alerted other officers in the area to assist in the search.
Within minutes, the suspect was located in a doorway several blocks away. He was apprehended, and he told police where he had hidden the stolen property, which included the tourist’s son’s medication and laptop. The subject was on felony probation and had outstanding warrants for his arrest. He was booked at County Jail.
FAKE COP MEET REAL COP
March 27, 11 p.m.
300 block of Haight Street
A male subject was reported to be flashing a gold police star and threatening to shoot people. Police arrived and met with a security guard who said he was approached by an unknown male who told him he was a police officer. The guard then spotted the subject across the street and identified him to the officers, who detained the subject for questioning.
During questioning, the subject began to get irate and yelled at the officers that he was a security guard and showed them his gold star, but the officers believed the star was fake. Due to the witness statements and the threats made to security officers, the police — the real ones — took the police — the fake one — into custody and brought him to Northern Station, where a computer check revealed an outstanding traffic warrant. His gold star was seized as evidence and he was booked at County Jail for terrorist threats and impersonating a police officer.
