Seems that “breaking and entering“, burglary and home invasion have a whole different meaning in San Francisco.
A few nights ago, in the wee hours after New Years Eve “Don”, the son of a close friend, was suddenly awaken by a crashing noise from his kitchen at his home near Golden Gate Park. He ran downstairs to discover that his back door had been kicked in and the intruder had stumbled into the kitchen island spilling utensils and dishes about the floor.
Subduing the “innocent until proven guilty” suspect was not a problem. It’s what happened next, that will blow your mind.
Don had his wife call 911, while he pinned down the burglar. After 20 minutes or so, the wife repeated the call only to discover that a patrol unit was just a block away. Don asked his wife to walk down the block and see why the unit had not responded. She discovered two officers changing a flat tire on their squad car and asked if it wouldn’t be too much for at least one of them to come to the house and arrest the intruder.
Apparently San Francisco police officers don’t appreciate “civilians” reminding them of their priorities. Of course auto maintenance trumps any perceived notion that someone who has broken into a private residence may pose a safety concern of the homeowner. The tire was changed, silly girl.
Arriving at the residence, instead of the officers arresting the offending party and carting him off to jail, they interviewed him, wrote him a ticket for trespass and vandalism, then turned him loose. No, you read it right. In San Francisco anything less than 3 felony counts gets you a ticket with a promise to appear. Hokaaayyyy.
I can submit any number of reasons I would never live in San Fran, but this one moves to the head of the list. I will let you imagine the different potential outcomes of this incident, as I cannot get my head around what I have just typed.
Oh.... and to make it really real here is a photo taken by Don in his lovely neighborhood, yet another reason NOT to live there.
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