Image via ABC7 New Bay Area/YouTube
As we’ve covered before, crime in San Francisco is something real. Everyone can debate about exactly why that is, but there’s no denying it’s a serious problem. But even we were shocked to see it’s gotten so bad in the city that now rogue tow trucks are apparently trying to take off with cars sitting at stop lights with people inside them.
Watch a tow truck steal a pickup towing a Polaris buggy in 19 seconds.
A software engineer walking down the sidewalk in the Financial District on April 10 pulled out his phone and recorded just such an incident. SFGATE shared that footage and we’ve included it so you can see for yourself.
You see a Toyota Corolla stopped at a red light as a tow truck in front of it lowers the boom and starts angling toward the compact car’s front tires. People watching the maneuver are obviously in disbelief, with one person asking “what’s he doing?”
The driver of the Corolla backs up, realizing what the tow truck driver is attempting. In response, the tow truck backs up aggressively. A car behind the Corolla pulls into the right turn bay giving the Toyota driver an escape route, so he takes it.
At the same time, you can hear pedestrians on the sidewalk yelling at the tow truck driver, obviously outraged at the scene.
After the Corolla takes off, so does the tow truck, although it’s not clear in the video if the driver tried pursuing the Toyota.
However, a woman who claims to have been a passenger in the Corolla (she says her husband was driving) told ABC7 in an interview that the tow truck chased them for several blocks before giving up.
What’s really weird about the whole incident is that the name and phone number for the tow truck company are clearly displayed. It’s not clear if the driver works for the company or if the truck had been stolen.
We have seen cases of car thieves stealing tow trucks, then using them to steal cars, but never to steal cars with people inside. Like we said, crime in San Francisco is next level at this point.
Watch the video for yourself (warning: language).
Image via ABC7 New Bay Area/YouTube
Tow truck appears to try and pick up occupied car sitting in San Francisco traffic
— SFGATE (@SFGate) April 10, 2024
🎥 Jeff Ferland pic.twitter.com/ZjjMageDKo
