SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A San Francisco burger spot is out thousands of dollars after an early morning burglary. Security video captured the crime happening in the city’s Richmond district.
Security video from Uncle Boy’s captures what owner John Espejo says was a costly crime. The burglar took $2,000 in cash from the register and left another $1,500 dollars in damage.
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it,” he said. “It’s tough out there. There’s a lot of things going on that make you think, ‘Man, this is like Gotham City out there.’”
Espejo says the crime was peculiar and done by what appears to be a professional. Instead of smashing the glass to get in, the burglar removed it.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I’m not in that profession, but the glass is perfectly preserved. It wasn’t broken or nothing. There was no shattering, nothing,” Espejo said.
Running Uncle Boy’s has been Espejo’s American dream. He immigrated to the United States from the Phillippines when he was just a boy.
He says he loves his community, but it’s hard not to feel defeated when crimes like this happen. It’s even more challenging when you’re trying to file a claim and your insurance says it might bail because of frequent crime.
“They pretty much told me that it’s not worth my time because my rates might go up or there’s the possibility that if I claim one too many times they’ll essentially not let me renew my insurance,” Espejo explained.
This latest burglary has made Espejo consider going cashless. It’s not a step he wants to take because of the profit hit, but it might be necessary to discourage break-ins.
As for addressing crime in the city, Espejo is not all-in on harsher punishments for offenders. He believes economic opportunities, financial help and better education in San Francisco can go a long way in making for a better city.
“Hopefully we can, as a community, figure it out soon because it’s chaos. It’s just gonna keep getting more and more crazy out there if thing keeps going,” he said.
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/this-is-like-gotcham-city-burglar-hits-popular-san-francisco-burger-restaurant/ Burglar hits popular San Francisco burger restaurant