Armed Robbers Steal $80K Worth of Cameras from San Francisco Area Store
Surveillance footage of a group of armed robbers walking off with $80,000 worth of camera equipment in the San Francisco Bay Area has been released.
Mike’s Cameras in Dublin, California suffered a smash-and-grab just as the shop opened at 10:00 on Wednesday.
Lieutenant Matt Farrugia says five men entered the store and confronted employees and a customer.
“It’s a shock to everybody,” he tells KRON4. “Us, the community, and the store. We take this very seriously, this very rarely happens here.”
A further video of a display case being smashed by the armed robbers is being withheld. Investigators don’t want to “revictimize the store employees.”
According to Fox KTVU, the armed intruders — wearing masks, hoodies, and gloves — ordered everyone to the ground
“They came in, they had guns. They proned everybody out on the ground and while they were proned out on the ground, that’s when they broke the display cases,” Farruggia says.
They grabbed whatever they could get their hands on. All told, they stole items worth $80,000.
“They stole camera bodies, camera lenses, and drones. They packed them up in their backpacks that they had on their persons and they exited the store,” Farruggia says.
The Golden City’s Crime Problem
San Francisco and camera theft have been synonymous with each other in recent times.
Only last month, the Leica Store near Union Square in San Francisco was robbed at gunpoint with the raiders making off with $178,000 in camera equipment and also causing $20,000 in damage.
In a recent in-depth article, PetaPixel spoke to San Francisco’s Mayor, London Breed, who says she is budgeting additional resources to help police officers fight photography crime.
“The Mayor appreciates the role that photography plays in highlighting the beauty of the City and documenting the very important events, celebrations, and milestones of our visitors and residents and remains focused on ensuring San Francisco is a place where people want to live, visit, do business and work,” the Mayor’s office tells PetaPixel.
“Addressing public safety is our top priority and a vital part of the City’s economic recovery and vibrancy. She understands people are fed up and shares their frustrations, which is why the City’s new budget increased public safety investments to fill 200 vacant police officer positions, passed and implemented new laws to address unpermitted street vending to break up markets for stolen goods, and passed a new camera ordinance that allows the Police Department temporary access live camera footage as part of criminal investigations.”
