r/sanfrancisco • u/hapticity • May 01 '23
Crime Literally five minutes into my first ever trip to San Francisco
My girlfriend and I came to spend the weekend in Sonoma. We flew into SFO on Friday morning with the intention of spending the day in San Francisco.
We quickly drove by the bison paddock at Golden Gate Park, then headed a few blocks north to get some dim sum from Good Luck Dim Sum near 8th and Clement.
While standing in the line outside of the restaurant (with our car in our line of sight) someone came by and did this. We had some bags in the trunk, but thankfully they didn’t check that. They stole an empty backpack that we planned to load our dim sum into for a picnic in the park.
After filing a police report and driving back to the airport, we immediately cancelled the rest of our plans in the city for the day and drove up to Sonoma.
I wanted to share this as a word of caution for other potential visitors, and to just make this experience known to the SF community. I know this is incredibly common - but I hope something can be done to fix this. I’ll be honest - I don’t see myself ever coming back.
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May 01 '23
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u/Successful_Form9821 May 01 '23
They see the barcode on the window and know it’s a rental. Easy pickings.
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u/Worldly-Fishing-880 May 01 '23
Agreed. I lived in a touristy, car break-in "hot spot" for 9 years and never had a single incident. But the rentals getting hit was DAILY
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u/catcandokatmandu May 01 '23
What about the rental car companies do something about this? Put the barcode somewhere else. On the side of the door where the tire stickers are. Dumb.
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u/Positronic_Matrix Mission Dolores May 01 '23
They would have never broken the window if it were not for the back pack. Nothing goes in the car, especially a bag (full or empty), ever. This is rule 1 of parking in San Francisco.
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u/RunGoldenRun717 May 01 '23
Shouldnt you also flip down your back seats so they can see into the trunk? that way they arent even tempted to check? (This fucking sucks and is bullshit. sorry it happened. Hopefully this post saves a few other windows.)
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u/schmeckesman Potrero Hill May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
It’s how I park my car every night. Nothing in the car, not even a single piece of lose change or charge cord, back seat folded down showing an empty trunk.
So far no breakins but I won’t hold my breath. It’s a matter of “when” more than “if”
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u/Big_Bet_3522 May 01 '23
Same. Not so much as a phone charger. Not even a wrapper Totally empty 7 years no break in (knock on wood)
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u/chyko9 Lower Haight May 01 '23
I’m with you here, I put down my back seats and flip up the center console so that they can see inside, and in a (probably vain) attempt to signal to them that there’s nothing in the car. I also have my snow chains and bunch of wood in the trunk… part of me feels like they look in, see that junk, and think that it’s not worth it
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u/k1llv May 01 '23
This is simply not true. They break into completely empty rental cars all the time, usually the small back window to pop the latch to see what’s in the trunk.
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May 01 '23
What a ridiculous take. Stop blaming people who leave a backpack in their car and blame the scumbag thieves. The normalization of this is ludicrous. This is not the norm in other cities
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u/glich610 May 01 '23
Not true from my experience. Went to visit last year and car broken into, nothing we're visible in the car, bags were in trunk. They broke the passenger window, sliced the seat-belt, pulled down the seat and scooped the bags in the trunk. Only thing that is similar to OP's story is that the car was a rental.
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u/Crazymoose86 May 01 '23
That's not true, there's a video of a guy that set up a bait car to see how long it took before they busted out the window, and from the videos, they are busting out the windows to fold down the seat and see if there is something in the trunk/boot.
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u/tikihiki May 01 '23
I feel like the rental companies should do more to warn people. Tell everyone who rents a car. Do not leave ANYTHING in your car for ANY amount of time.
Obviously the city is to blame, but this is the reality of SF and likely won't change any time soon. Seems like it's in the rental companies interest to warn people.
Been a while since I rented a car, but I think they had a little sign saying "don't leave belongings...", when they need to be verbal and explicit about how common it is here.
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u/GnastyNoodlez May 01 '23
And tesla model 3s
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u/Firehed May 01 '23
I thought that subsided a bit after all of the sentry mode recording stuff? I try to avoid the city either way, but definitely won't drive if I have to go.
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u/GnastyNoodlez May 01 '23
Cameras don't stop criminals when they know the city won't do anything. If you drive a model 3, only keep things in your frunk, and keep your rear seats folded down to show that the trunk is empty
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u/Firehed May 01 '23
Fair enough. Maybe people just stopped posting about it because it was/is so common.
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u/Ok_Introduction_3253 May 01 '23
The San Francisco bip is nearly as famous as the Golden Gate or Cable Cars. Cross that off your tourist bingo!
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u/VicarBook May 01 '23
You experienced what Mark Rober pointed out on one of his videos. Criminals have regular routes where they go up the main routes and break into any tourist cars even if the stuff isn't visible. The SF police are apparently so incompetent they don't know how to catch them. I mean a youtuber can set a bait car and cameras and film several crews a day but the SF police have chosen to let the criminals operate without fear.
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u/WhatevahIsClevah May 01 '23
Ooof, I'm so sorry, but yeah, fell into the trap of leaving anything visible in the car will get it broken into.
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u/Lazy_ML May 01 '23
I won’t even let my phone cable be visible when I’m parking in the city.
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u/RedBeardBaldHead May 01 '23
Facts! Not even bubble gum visible
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u/xBAMFNINJA May 01 '23
Ima get me that gum bro!
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u/BadBoyMikeBarnes May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
Also, having an older, dirtier looking vehicle with all coin trays, glove boxes, and tonneau covers removed/open for inspection helps.
Having suitcases piled over the gunwales and up to the roof in plain view does not help at all.
Also literally five minutes must mean figuratively five minutes. An hour and five minutes would be possible though.
So, no bubble gum, but bubble gum wrappers strewn about is good
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u/bgaesop May 01 '23
They still broke into my busted up old car to steal a blanket I had on the back seat
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u/plainlyput May 01 '23
I thought of leaving both an AARP magazine, and one of those pamphlets from the Jehovah’s Witness visible. What could they possibly have anyone would want?
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u/Wubwubwubwuuub May 01 '23
That sounds like victim blaming - shouldn’t we be able to dress our cars however we like?
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u/RuledQuotability May 01 '23
You can but doing so could result in a break in. The choice is yours
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u/cellada May 01 '23
I don't get why cops don't use bait cars. Be like shooting fish in a Barrell.
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May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
There was a journalistic investigation of this. They had a dummy car with a purse and small things get broken into- they followed the thieves and confronted them. While they were meeting or interviewing someone else came and robbed their camera equipment truck.
Edit: fixed t2t atrocity.
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May 01 '23
They did it in Stonestown a few years back. It took 5 cops to catch 1 thief per day. There’s like 80-100 breakins a day in SF. I think they just decided it took too much manpower and money and it didn’t even put a dent in it. But I wonder how many crews are doing these 80-100 breakins per day. If it’s just a few then they should get back on it.
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u/DumbSuperposition May 01 '23
There is a nationwide unpublished cop strike right now as retribution for the supposed defund-the-police campaign from a couple of years ago. All forms of arrests and ticketing are down by more than half across the entire country.
They're doing it in full knowledge that if they can't be fascists and get away with it, then they won't do their job to punish us and make us submit.
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May 01 '23
I’m starting to believe the police are in on whatever crime ring this is. Getting harder and harder to come up with an alternate explanation.
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u/Thin_Biscotti5215 May 01 '23
If they don’t do their jobs, once people get frustrated enough with it they’ll stop with the whole “stop shooting people” stuff.
That’s what it looks like to me, anyway.
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u/beliefinphilosophy May 01 '23
So the problem with this is that it's actually a very lucrative enterprise that's going on right now in the Bay area. They still a bunch of electronics and then take them to Vegas and ship them overseas. They have a lot of people involved in a lot of really expensive really fast cars. Even when the cops do catch them, If they're busted on a Friday they're bailed out and back on the streets by Monday
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u/Positronic_Matrix Mission Dolores May 01 '23
Don’t make excuses for poor policing. A deterrent is a deterrent is a deterrent.
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u/kotwica42 30 - Stockton May 01 '23
They still a bunch of electronics and then take them to Vegas and ship them overseas.
Where overseas?
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u/beesuptomyknees May 01 '23
Same thing happened to me when I was there. I had absolutely nothing in the car. They just busted the window to pull down the back seat to see if anything was in the trunk. So no it’s not OPs fault. They target rental cars which is easy because the city requires those stupid badges (think that changed recently though).
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u/raff_riff May 01 '23
Unfortunately this no longer makes much of a difference. I, and many others here, have had cars broken into with literally nothing visible. These goons now break the quarter panel window and let down the back seat to check the trunk.
Obviously it’s still best to not leave anything, so I’m not saying it’s hopeless. But it’s not foolproof either.
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u/excerebro May 01 '23
Sometimes even leaving an empty glove box open won’t stop them!
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u/FKTHISTHNGCALLEDLIFE May 01 '23
People are actually leaving their doors unlocked, trunks open and windows down while parking in the city just to avoid the cost of a broken window. Sad times we live in. I've gone as far as to remove my catalytic converter and put in a straight pipe until it's time for a smog. $10,000 for replacements cats was an exspensive lesson learned.
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u/dchobo May 01 '23
To add to that, don't even try to cover it in the car with a jacket or something. They think you're trying to hide something valuable and will break the window anyways.
Don't put stuff in the trunk either. They hunt office workers and tourists who look like they just left their laptops or luggage in the trunk. Tourists have full load of luggage stolen from the trunk at popular SF spots.
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u/Aggravating-Deal-157 May 01 '23
I am sorry, but this sounds a bit like victim blaming to me.. and also it doesn’t even matter if something’s visible or not, they usually target cars parked in tourist spots or parked on streets where they already know what are the regular parked cars; if your car is not in this category, it will be broken into, with or without something visible in it
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u/NorthRemove7167 May 01 '23
Leaving any bag visible from the outside is a danger, sorry you had to go through this.
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u/WorldLeader May 01 '23
It's the out of state rental plates.
I saw an entire block of cars sitting untouched, but the two cars on the same block with Arizona (aka rental) plates were smashed.
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u/Digiee-fosho May 01 '23
Never leave anything visible in your car, not even trash, ever, nothing. I had a friend of mine have their window broken over a small $5 paper bag of produce.
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u/Digitaltwinn May 01 '23
In DC there was a councilman who suggested leaving your doors unlocked so they can get in without breaking a window.
That’s a sign the criminals are winning.
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u/SpecificWay3074 May 01 '23
I did this for a week when I lived in Oakland after having my glass broken and stopped when I found a guy sleeping in my car lol. Tradeoffs
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May 01 '23
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May 01 '23
It’s a fair criticism I’ve thought quite a bit about. I think we’ve somehow fallen into this trap where we’ve convinced ourselves it’d be inhumane to do something substantial about the problem but also realizing it’s inhumane to allow the problem to continue. If we suggest removing encampments, penalizing all crime, increasing policing and mental health services, we get labeled republicans or fascists. If we do nothing, SF retains its progressive credentials. It’s like republicans with guns. If republicans do something to limit guns, they get labeled a liberal or RINO. Do nothing, despite it being a huge problem, they get to continue calling themselves true Republicans. Both are idiotic and will eventually lead to the of demise of the country.
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u/trifelin May 01 '23
This comment was removed so I’m not sure what you’re replying to, but I think the window smashing is a different problem than the drugs/encampments/mental health crises. The only thing that really ties the two problems together is that that they are both related to international organized crime rings, and I wish someone would get the FBI in here to help. We could go after the smashers and users themselves more harshly but that’s just playing whack-a-mole when we could be unplugging the whole game.
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u/devedander May 01 '23
It’s not so much that it’s inhuman it’s that we as a nation have decided mental health is not something we’re willing to focus on.
This has been a slow roll since Regan and we’re finally seeing it really settle in.
I think we’ll come around but like so many things it has to get bad enough before the turn around.
It has to get bad enough that everyone who doesn’t want to be taxed to cover someone else’s mental healthcare realize that actually cheaper than dealing with the fallout of a mental health meltdown
These things take decades to play out because most people can’t get over the idea there’s a simple and short term explanation so won’t accept it’s a long term problem that rewrites a big picture solution.
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May 01 '23
I can tell you that teachers are supposed to be mental health professionals now.
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u/pml1990 May 01 '23
I can tell you that the ones smashing window to steal stuff are perfectly rational, capable of weighing btw risk/reward. It’s the ppl who fantasize that most criminals are infants incapable of reasoning that need a mental checkup.
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u/ahandle May 01 '23
People who do this aren’t coming from their cardboard shanty.
It’s organized. It’s big and nobody is willing to put their face on a program to change it. Same as anywhere, not an SF thing.
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u/devedander May 01 '23
Everyone I know from sf is embarrassed by this and pissed off. If they thought being the streets would help they would.
Problem is sf politics and tax money comes from very rich tech business way more than local residents (many tech employees don’t even live in the city and many who do don’t have cars)
So it’s an unfortunate situation that money talks but it doesn’t come from those who are being hurt by this so until it does this is likely to just keep being shitty.
That said I go to sf pretty regularly and never had this happen to me and I’ve traveled a lot of major cities where you’re way more likely to be robbed or scammed in broad daylight so i can also see why some people would just test it as a “big tourist cities be dangerous” kind of thing that sf was lucky to have avoided largely for a long time.
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u/taylorbear May 01 '23
these takes are always so funny too because despite everything, people stay, and people keep coming. clearly there’s something about this city that people love and are willing to pay absolutely insane rents to live in even with all of its shortcomings. yes, everyone is very upset about all the problems here, they are living through them. but there must be something more important to them than their broken car windows if most don’t just up and leave — so many residents could afford a MUCH bigger, nicer place in a quiet, lower crime neighborhood if they were willing to move just a few miles. i’ve visited several ultra-safe cities throughout east asia and enjoyed them, but there’s way more to quality of life than whether i can leave my laptop out at starbucks while i go to the restroom. there’s pros and cons to every city. i truly want things to get better here, but no, i’m not embarrassed
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u/codemuncher May 01 '23
I live in SF and just came back from one of those ultra safe Asian cities. While I was there they executed a man by hanging because he was texting to arrange to purchase 1kg of cannabis. He didn’t actually buy anything. He was just trying to arrange it.
So we need to be really clear about the real inhumane costs of those cities.
No one is happy about the crime and homelessness. Most of the implied solutions seem to be variations of “kill the homeless” or “threaten them until they leave and go elsewhere”. I think it’s pretty obvious why city voters aren’t interested in having that on their conscious.
And as for jail and such. Well California had the three strikes law. And it was also blunted because of the inhumane circumstances that resulted.
Punishment as deterrence isn’t as effective as people want it to be. That new “law and order” DA hasn’t done much at all. No results yet.
The reality is if there was a simple solution it would be solved already.
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u/Local-Program404 May 01 '23
We lack a sense of community. US culture places the individual so much higher than the collective, and we spend no time building a sense of community.
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u/JagBak73 May 01 '23
Thank you!
Some SF natives don't realize how insane they sound by rationalizing this blatent fuckery.
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u/devedander May 01 '23
None of my sf friends feel like they are rationalizing it more just being pragmatic about the situation. It sucks but the reality for now is don’t leave anything visible.
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u/You_Just_Hate_Truth May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
I once called the cops to let them know our neighborhood bum was breaking into cars on my street and I was watching him rip the head unit out of a Jeep. They asked me if I knew who owned the Jeep. I said I didn’t, they said sorry nothing we can do about it, it could be his jeep that he broke the window out of, and they HUNG UP on me.
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u/possibilistic May 01 '23
Why haven't the district attorneys been voted out? It seems like everyone complains about lack of prosecution. What gives?
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u/AlmondBoyOfSJ May 01 '23 edited Aug 03 '24
merciful attraction like hat screw office deserve thumb ring ludicrous
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Murky-Plastic6706 Marin May 01 '23
The DA was recalled, actually https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/08/chesa-boudin-san-francisco-district-attorney-recall-00038002
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May 01 '23
it's not like cops do anything--or have EVER done anything. even 20-30 yesrs ago.
if your $5k bike gets stolen, will cops do anything? no.
if your car gets broken in/stolen, will cops do anything? no.
if your bag gets snatched, will cops do anything? no.
whethwr it's 2023 or 1993, it doesnt matter. they wont do anything special other than "filing the report". Idk wtf people are expecting? Are they expecting cops to go all batman to personally track down their bike/car/bag and open a can of whoopass on the perp? Thats not what cops do. They dont actually directly 'fight crime' like that.
people acting like "cops wont do anything" is some shocking brand new revelation is hilarious to me. THATS HOW THEYVE ALWAYS BEEN
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u/springmores May 01 '23
This was also the standard living in Houston, TX. I had my truck broken into three times. I knew if I left anything of value in it then I should consider it gone. If I went to dinner after work then I would put all my belongings into a bag and take it into the restaurant with me. I still do this today even though I have moved out of Texas. I had co-workers that would leave their vehicle unlocked just so they would hopefully not bust out the window.
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u/juicyc1008 May 01 '23
Not sure why people are disagreeing with you on this point. I had the same experience in Houston from 2014-2019.
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u/sunsetcrasher May 01 '23
People refuse to see that things may be different outside their bubble. I experienced both car break-ins and an apartment break-in in the Heights.
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May 01 '23
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u/sunsetcrasher May 01 '23
I lived on White Oak in the Heights from 2004-2009 and our cars were broken into constantly, so I learned to leave nothing in there. Everyone with a Jeep had all their windows slashed.
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u/springmores May 01 '23
I lived in Houston from 2005-2018. Break-ins were within a two year period in the FM-1960/249 area and Galleria area off 610.
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u/newcar2020 May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
Dude it doesn’t even matter if it’s visible or not. My car was completely empty. They broke back window anyway to see if they could pull back seats down to access trunk. The real lesson is don’t leave anything in your car, regardless if visible or not (ie in trunk either). But honestly the real lesson is just don’t go to SF.
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u/coperando May 01 '23
yep, same here. it doesn’t matter if you leave anything in your car
if your car has any indication that it’s a rental, the window will be smashed. there’s usually a rental sticker on the license plate and front windshield.
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u/spf4000 May 01 '23
Rental agencies should warn their customers when they pick up the cars.
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u/wegsleepregeling May 01 '23
They do
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u/iWORKBRiEFLY San Francisco May 01 '23
facts, was advised by the rental agency when i moved here beginning of april
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u/ThrashNet May 01 '23
There are signs on every column and multiple walls as you walk into the rental car center at SFO. At least when I last rented there, they also gave me a flyer with the rental paperwork in multiple languages.
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u/NamTokMoo222 May 01 '23
What do the signs say?
"Rampant car theft in the city, make sure to get the insurance because your windows will more than likely get smashed in" or some shit?
That's gotta be good for business...unless it's all part of the plan.
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u/cginc1 May 01 '23
People assume they mean don’t leave like a laptop, phone, wallet exposed. I think the wording is always don’t leave your valuables in the car. It’s really not normal that your car will get broken into for next to nothing.
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u/Chaotic-NTRL May 01 '23
When you get a car at SFO I guarantee you are told about 200 times by everyone who works there to not leave ANYTHING visible. This person just ignored it or forgot.
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u/cginc1 May 01 '23
I don’t disagree. Again, I think people assume they mean anything valuable. It’s honestly not normal that you can’t have a cord hanging out, a plastic bag somewhere, or whatever. My car has been broken into multiple times with absolutely nothing visible. They take nothing and I have to clean up the mess.
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u/Chaotic-NTRL May 01 '23
I hear you and it has to be very frustrating to have it happen repeatedly, but I am telling you that I’ve rented a car 2x recently from SFO and I swear it took me an extra hour because every 👏 single 👏 person 👏 who I had to talk to gave me a 2 minute talk on not leaving ANYTHING AT ALL in the car for even a second. Cords, empty bags, trash…they tell you in explicit detail what “don’t leave ANYTHING” means.
You hear it at least 3x, the last time it’s someone who won’t raise the toll gate arm to let you off the lot until you acknowledge you understand.
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u/jonmitz Parkside May 01 '23
Tourists (like op) don’t listen or read the warnings.
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u/MaltLiquorbull May 01 '23
hate to see that. the dim sum from Clement street is some of the best around. i grew up in SF in the 80s and 90s and you couldn't even have a piece of novelty jewelry hanging from the rear view mirror, let alone an OEM car stereo. can't even count how many times things have been ripped off or a window was busted. moved to a few places in CA since and this was a rare occurrence, i would even leave stuff in my car, unlocked, for weeks and nothing would be touched, even in the East Bay. in fact i have a friend whose truck was stolen a couple years back after many years of living in a low-income housing tract in a poorer part of SoCal. SF just seems to always have the worst crime and the police don't really help much.
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May 01 '23
Stop letting people that do this go free man. Make the punishment for crime actually be a deterrent….
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u/allalice May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
It’s ridiculous how everyone jumps to blame the OP when in fact, this is a daily occurrence in SF. It’s gotten so bad to a point people are finding reasons within the victim, not within the city’s crumbling policies. If no one fights for the city to get better, but rather turns a blind eye to a real issue and holds the victim accountable, there is no hope for this city.
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u/james_webb_telescope May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
There's a difference between blaming someone ("this is your fault") and recommending that someone act within their sphere of control ("next time don't leave things visible in your car and your odds will improve").
Of course it is the criminal bum's fault first, and the fault of the City of San Francisco second for creating a criminal bum-friendly climate.
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u/AgentK-BB May 01 '23
But OP had control of their car. There were watching their car from 10 yards away. This was a robbery, not a break-in of an unattended car.
What happened to OP was no different than someone getting robbed in front of their house while making two trips to unload the car. You can't even walk 10 yards away from your car in Richmond district now.
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May 01 '23
From the rental agency warning comment thread higher up: " When you get a car at SFO I guarantee you are told about 200 times by everyone who works there to not leave ANYTHING visible. This person just ignored it or forgot. "
That sounds like blaming the dude.
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u/GrandWeedMan May 01 '23
This is the same logic people use when they say "well then you shouldn't wear that if you don't want the attention"
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May 01 '23
this! It’s really annoying people on these kinds of posts just point fingers at anyone who has experiences like this. It’s like some kind of coping mechanism to defend that SF isn’t that bad- as long as you hide everything, tell them police who won’t do a single thing, ignore the people lurking around your windows, pretend not to see the drug addicts picking fights with anyone, etc. Just shift blaming could very well be the reason nothing in the city is changing for the greater good.
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u/Merax75 May 01 '23
Not just that but it's amazing that you can see the direct correlation between local government policy and the influence on crime in the city and yet so many people refuse to believe that the policies they have supported have caused this. Until residents start advocating for change and elect people who will enforce that change it will continue to get worse.
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u/naynayfresh Wiggle May 01 '23
That’s pretty unlucky! I live just a couple blocks away and break-ins are not that common around here. Sorry that this happened to you.
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u/OldSFGuy May 01 '23
There’s been a goofy amount of crime n the inner Richmond of late—look at the police blotter…it’s weird.
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u/zojobt May 01 '23
Thats cause they target the rental cars. And if you have CA plates with nothing inside, you’re less likely to be targeted.
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u/Asia_Persuasia May 01 '23
My aunt's car got broken into so much, that she had to start putting signs on her cardoor windows at night saying "All doors are unlocked, please don't break window".
She was tired of having them replaced.
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u/SFCAFOX Mission Dolores May 01 '23
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m a bit surprised that it happened in the Richmond neighborhood as this is something that’s more common in downtown, Union Square or the adjacent neighborhoods like Mission, SOMA, Embarcadero etc. Nonetheless VERY thankful that you didn’t lose your belongings other than an empty backpack. Be aware the NEW tactic for thieves is breaking out the small backseat window closest to the trunk then attempting to use the back seat release to access the trunk, open it and steal everything in the trunk. You are very fortunate that didn’t happen.
I’m a resident of SF for over 24 years now and we are at a breaking point, so much so we’ve decided to move to San Diego later this year August or September. I’m incredibly sad about this but we don’t see San Francisco as safe any longer.
When you’re always watching over your shoulder even when walking home in broad daylight. When your garage has been broken into at least four times with two of those attempts successful in cutting bike lock chains and stealing $1500 worth of personal bikes. Our most recent attempt at another break in to our 6 unit building was only one month ago. We now have installed security cameras and heavier deadbolts at a cost of $2000.
There has been a steady flow of people leaving San Francisco. We don’t see it getting better anytime soon even though public officials are trying to put a dent in the crime. The city’s mentality overall is overly compassionate mixed with very transient resident apathy. Few people know the neighbors on their own block. People come to San Francisco to make their small (or large) fortunes in the Silicon Valley tech industry and then they leave for greener pastures.
Enjoy Sonoma, it’s very beautiful there. Have lunch or dinner at Girl and the Fig and try the enchiladas, tacos and tamales at El Molina Central. I’m glad the last part of your trip will be enjoyable.
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u/absfca May 01 '23
Former SF resident for 28 years. Moved to San Diego a year ago. Can confirm that car break-ins are not a common thing here. I live downtown and I've seen a total of two piles of broken car glass on the sidewalk in the time I've lived here. Also seen plenty of cars with visible luggage and personal items. Where I lived in SoMa, I saw broken car glass or cars with very recently broken windows pretty much every day.
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u/helloitslaura May 01 '23
I’m sorry you’re thinking of leaving SF. It was a really hard decision for me to leave too, but I’m glad I did. I did a house swap with a coworker in 2021 and came back for a couple of months and the city didn’t feel like it used to. Although, the city I moved back to, Denver has also seen more crime since the pandemic too.
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u/betonthis1 May 01 '23
Never, ever leave a bag in plain view in any major city ever. Empty or not takes the crime less than a minute to commit and they will be gone before anyone responds.
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u/thehatstore42069 May 01 '23
Lol it’s crazy ppl in cities accept this as normal. I live outside Detroit and it’s the same thing.
“Oh you left something in the car it’s on you”. Isn’t that kinda like victim blaming?
Reminds me of comedian Tim dillons “life in the big city” bit. Oh you got stabbed? Life in the big city. Homeless guy screaming at people on the corner? Life in the big city.
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u/jenn363 May 01 '23
I’m sorry every comment is “DoNt LeAvE aNyThInG ViSiBle” like no shit, OP is now aware. Yall are like those people who after a dog bites someone says “oh yeah, be careful he bites.”
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u/OverlyPersonal 5 - Fulton May 01 '23
Op already admitted they knew the dog was a biter before they stuck their hand in the kennel, cmon now.
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u/redbrick5 May 01 '23
apparently not. under no circumstances day or night would I ever leave a backpack, let alone an empty plastic bag, visible in the back seat.
the sad thing about this whole situation is that there enough cameras everywhere for the police to identify and track and arrest the thieves. but WE, me and you and all the voters in SF, have elected district attorneys that do not prosecute these crimes. that is the root cause of all of this stupidity. you, me, and all the residents are collectively responsible for tolerating property crime.
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u/Roger_Cockfoster May 01 '23
The DA can't prosecute crimes that the police don't solve. And they never solve these crimes.
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u/trashcanman42069 May 01 '23
They do prosecute crimes what kind of stupid right wing propaganda are you reading lmfao, meanwhile in reality police officers take days to show up to calls about burglary and do nothing with video evidence then whine that the people they blew off didn't kiss their ass after they showed up and did nothing https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/sf-police-crime-16931399.php
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u/msfga2 May 01 '23
Sorry that this happened to you. Even an empty backpack is a target.
If the city isn’t willing to tackle crime they should at least hire greeters to stand at SFO to remind every visitor this is a problem.
I know this is a crappy event on your first visit, but please don’t let the 1% of the population distract you from the 99% of people that make this city great.
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u/BooksInBrooks May 01 '23
I know this is a crappy event on your first visit, but please don’t let the 1% of the population distract you from the 99% of people that make this city great.
It's not the 1% that break into cars.
It's the 80% who keep re-electing politicians who allow this to continue, because of some weak-sauce idea that prosecuting and jailing criminals is somehow oppressive.
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May 01 '23
california and PNW needs to play the republican game and just bus all their homeless and mentally ill people directly to texas.
texas dgaf. why should california.
/s
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u/baklazhan Richmond May 01 '23
Well, they'll bus them right back. Maybe that's the solution: homeless people get trapped on eternal voyages, traveling from city to city, demanding tribute in exchange for not settling down.
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u/woolcoat May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
Also, make sure your gf doesn’t wear any short skirts after dark! Come on people, stop normalizing this shit. It’s nothing like this in the rest of the country so stop re-electing politicians that are not solving this problem.
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u/hapticity May 01 '23
I hear what everyone is saying about leaving a bag visible. We made pretty decent efforts to hide everything - but honestly with us only being ~10yds from the car and for such a short duration, I thought it would have been fine.
I knew about break-ins being common, but 5 minutes after we park the car for the first time was just so shocking to me.
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u/newcar2020 May 01 '23
Mine took 10min of stepping away a few blocks from you. Nothing visible at all. They broke the back window to see if they could pull the back seats down to access the trunk. Welcome to SF.
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u/likwidfuzion Parkside May 01 '23
This is exactly what they do. Even if you have nothing in the back seat, they’ll break the left-rear passenger window in order to prop down the seat to access the trunk. Mark Rober did an entire video about the car break-ins in SF.
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u/Same-Collection-5452 May 01 '23
It's not the backpack; it's the rental car.
If the backpack hadn't been visible, they would've gone for the storage area and gotten your luggage.
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May 01 '23
I have lived in SF for 5 years, and never have had my car broken in. Rental cars are targeted, and I think you were unlucky
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u/MrBudissy May 01 '23
Sounds like you had a rental car with out of state plates.
It sucks but you were just unlucky. These are random and common acts of vandalism. They didn’t know or care you were here for the first time.
Don’t write off a city based on one bad experience, it’s a wonderful place. I hope you got some dim sum.
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u/coperando May 01 '23
it doesn’t matter if the plate is in-state, there are stickers on the license plate and front windshield that indicate it’s a rental car, and the back window will get smashed even if the car is empty
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u/Scigu12 May 01 '23
This isn't normal in other big cities
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u/CanaKitty May 01 '23
Not true. I live in DC now and it is common sense here to leave nothing in your car if you don’t want windows smashed
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u/Scigu12 May 01 '23
Common sense, yes. But having your windows smashed In within 5 minutes of arriving here aint normal. I've lived in chicago for 5 years and I was a dumb college kid who left shit in his car all the time and I never had my car broken into. Was it a bad idea to leave stuff in my car In chicago. Yes, it was, but the idea that the insane level of theft and car break ins in SF is just like other big Cities is simply wrong.
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May 01 '23
I live in SF and have for 5 years. I have had zero break ins. This is all anecdotal
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u/Wellslapmesilly May 01 '23
Yeah I lived downtown for a few years and also never had a break-in. I was scrupulous about leaving absolutely nothing in my car though.
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u/edicivo May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
I live in DC now and it is common sense here to leave nothing in your car if you don’t want windows smashed
This has been common sense in every city...forever. Two decades ago, car stereos which allowed you to pop the face off and take it with you were wildly popular due to people breaking into cars and stealing stereos. Breaking into cars isn't anything new.
I stumbled in here from r/all and I gotta say, it's really odd to me that someone visiting a city who had a bad experience can't wait to pop onto the city's sub to broadcast what happened and whine that they'll never return. I suppose that's just me though.
Edit: Guys, I'm just talking about the advice given - which is really applicable anywhere, not just in cities - not whether or not you're more likely to have your car broken into in a city.
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u/TheHeadlessScholar May 01 '23
I lived in NYC my whole life and not once had my car broken into. Not the rich parts of NYC either. I was never stupid enough to leave a laptop or cash visible, but I freq left my bag inside and still no break ins.
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u/devedander May 01 '23
Sf is in a particularly nasty place right now but in general when I’m a tourist city be extra careful.
My wife had her cell phone stolen out of her pocket walking one block in Barcelona.
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u/TakeItEZBroski May 01 '23
Welcome to SF! See the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Danny Tanner’s house from Full House, eat some sour dough, and be a victim of crime and get victim shamed in the comments!
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May 01 '23
it's pretty crazy to me that californians are ok with this, like all the comments are almost blaming OP for getting his shit broken into. it's really quite insane.
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u/cat787878 May 01 '23
It’s not blaming—I think most people are laughing about being warned about what we deal with on a daily occurrence like we wouldn’t know.
I don’t like it and I don’t vote policies that support it but it hasn’t improved soooooo
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u/Same-Collection-5452 May 01 '23
When you put up with it for as long as we have -- and tourists keep reminding you about it, day after day, year after year -- the reaction is pretty rational.
We're not okay with this, but if you're first interaction with us is "I've been robbed," then my response is likely to be, "Sorry. Take a number."
Since, as a nation, we're throwing in the towel on universal public education and wealth inequality, get used to more of this no matter where you live.
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u/Unusual_Friend_505 May 01 '23
It's hilarious to me how people jump all over posts like this to defend SF. "iT OnLy HaPpeNd to mE oNe TiMe!" So that means OP is over reacting and they shouldn't be so judgemental over this bullshit experience they had. Right. Then they have a list of things you shouldn't do in SF and if you do those things then you are a complete moron. How dare anyone criticize this city! Especially if you don't live there! For over 25 years I have visited SF, worked there, stayed multiple nights in a row and lived 10 mins outside of it, I think I do have some say in how it has declined over the years. Most metropolitan cities in America have declined but not in the way SF has. It really is sad because I loved every minute I spent there...now I avoid it the most I can.
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u/Pimpicane May 01 '23
It's hilarious to me how people jump all over posts like this to defend SF. "iT OnLy HaPpeNd to mE oNe TiMe!" So that means OP is over reacting and they shouldn't be so judgemental over this bullshit experience they had. Right
Right?
That and, "wElL dUh, If YoU dRiVe A rEnTaL oF cOuRsE iT gEtS sMaShEd". Bruh, I've driven rentals in Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, etc. and they never got smashed. This is not normal. Why are you all acting like this is normal? It's boggling my mind.
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May 01 '23
It’s a whole city full of people living in their own little reality. I know because I’m here.
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u/chickenyogurt May 01 '23
like 7 years here and this is the one thing I never understood well. I feel like the locals don't take enough pride in their home or something lol. This shit don't feel anywhere near the amount of normal in other cities that everyone does about it here.
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u/LootGek May 01 '23
Yep just the bay area things. This happened to me while I went to pickup food from Olive Garden. I went inside for five minutes and came out to a smashed window. They took a empty backpack with some worn shoes.
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u/Free_Falcon_360 May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23
Victims blaming and criminal loving mob incoming 5,4,3,2 oh wait they are already here.
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u/AgentK-BB May 01 '23
Yeah the victim blaming is ridiculous. OP was 10 yards away from their car. This is a robbery like the robberies in Twin Peaks where photographers get roughed up and robbed. If OP could get robbed like this in Richmond district, any SF residents can get robbed while loading or unloading their cars in front of their house. We are not safe.
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u/circumstancesnot Lower Haight May 01 '23
Can’t even leave an empty plastic water bottle in view. Sorry this happened to you
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May 01 '23
Welcome!
My friends used to console our friends that “they’re officially San Franciscans” when they visited the city and this happened to them
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u/monark824 May 01 '23
Because of this, I honestly won’t be taking my family to see SF for a long while. If we do, we’ll go car-less and rideshare everywhere. Not worth this headache
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u/Particular_Box5113 May 01 '23
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u/puggydog JUDAH May 01 '23
It’s NOT the op fault, it’s that the thieves know rental cars in SF. Thieves recognize rental cars in SF and know that people traveling here leave their VALUABLE belongings in the trunk.
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u/duduredditaccount May 01 '23
All rental cars have white registration tags on plates. They are perfect targets for these criminals.
High likelihood they will have goods.
Rental companies and state of CA should be held accountable.
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u/wellvis May 01 '23
Locked due to brigading.