4 arrested after burglars drive truck into S.F. Richmond market
San Francisco police arrested four people suspected of vandalizing and burglarizing a market in the city’s Richmond District on Tuesday, officials said.
The burglary occurred just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when several people broke into the 17th & Balboa Market, a convenience store at 1601 Balboa St., by driving a pickup truck through the front door, shattering the glass, store co-owner Mariam Lawson told the Chronicle.
Inside the convenience store, the suspects stole between $300 and $400 worth of lottery tickets, broke a shelf and damaged vending machines, Lawson said.
The suspects fled before officers arrived, but later that night, plainclothes officers spotted the suspect vehicles traveling to Oakland
and disabled one vehicle near Eighth and Center streets, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The occupants, Enrique JohnsonAntunez, 27, of Emeryville, and Valerie Brinkmann, 33, of Newark, were taken into custody.
Oakland police found two additional suspects attempting to cash in stolen lottery tickets at a business near 14th and Adeline streets. The suspects, Esteban Vasquez Lara of Oakland and Elena Carlson, were also taken into custody.
All four suspects were booked into the San Francisco County Jail on multiple charges, including burglary, vandalism, theft of a vehicle, and vehicle registration fraud. Carlson was booked on additional charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine.
The incident is the third burglary or attempted burglary at the 17th & Balboa Market in the past year, Lawson said.
“I’m glad they caught the people,” Lawson said. “Hopefully they get their lesson learned that we’re hard-earned business owners. It takes a lot to run a business, and having to have added headaches such as this is really uncalled for.”
“Hopefully San Francisco
can do something about these crimes, because it’s really taking a toll on business owners, not just us,” she said.
Although arrests have been made, the San Francisco Police Department continues to investigate the burglary and police ask that anyone with information call 415-5754444 or text a tip to TIP411.