'I'm so fed up': With shoplifting all too frequent in Hayes Valley, some merchants are at wits' end

Hayes Valley is a haven for shoppers and al fresco diners, but trendiness and an abundance of retail stores draws a sinister type: petty thieves.

Owning a small business in a pricey city like San Francisco is challenging enough, but shoplifting "is the thing that deflates me the most," said Elizabeth Leu, the owner of Fiddlesticks, children's clothing and toy store in Hayes Valley. "It feels like someone running into your house and grabbing your throw pillows."

In the span of a year, Leu estimates between $6,000 and $10,000 worth of merchandise is pilfered from her shop, with about two thefts occurring each month. Leu says she has little recourse.

Often the items thieves grab are not worth enough to qualify as grand theft, which has a minimum threshold of $950, and filing petty theft claims only increases the business owner's liability insurance.

Between Jan. 18, 2018 and Dec. 18, 2018, a total of four theft crimes were reported in Hayes Valley, of 420 total in San Francisco. By comparison, there were 17 reported thefts in the Tenderloin, and 24 in the Mission.

Elizabeth Leu, owner of Fiddlesticks in Hayes Valley, wraps a gift order while a customer browses the store on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. Elizabeth Leu, owner of Fiddlesticks in Hayes Valley, wraps a gift order while a customer browses the store on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Amy Osborne, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Amy Osborne, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close 'I'm so fed up': With shoplifting all too frequent in Hayes Valley, some merchants are at wits' end 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Leu says the problem feels especially urgent in a district like Hayes Valley, because it's made up solely of small businesses. Formula retail stores — businesses with more than 11 outposts — are forbidden in the district by city ordinance. Lost merchandise comes straight from the pocket of the business owner, who may be already struggling to stay afloat with high retail competition and even higher rents in the city.

Leu, like many shop owners in the neighborhood, has taken matters largely into her own hands. In many cases, she doesn't bother to call San Francisco police because most petty theft incidents are considered low-priority.

SFPD spokesperson Michael Andraychak said police are dispatched "to all pending calls for service," but "due to staffing levels and volume of calls for service, an officer may not be available to handle 'C' priority calls for a period of time." SFPD dispatchers qualify calls into three categories based on priority: A, B or C.

An "A" priority call implies there is imminent danger to life, major property damage, and/or the suspect is still in the area and may be "reasonably" apprehended. "B" priority calls signify there is the potential for damage to property, the suspect may still be in the area, and the crime just occurred. A call is designated as "C" priority when there is no present danger to life or property, the suspect is not in the area, or the crime scene is protected. It appears most of the shoplifting incidents in Hayes Valley fall in the "C" category.

If an officer is dispatched to a higher-priority call, the "C" call will be placed back on the waiting list for service.

When calling in a petty theft, the operator typically directs you to the non-emergency line, said Catherine Chow, the owner of Azalea Boutique in Hayes Valley.

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Sometimes it can take 24 to 48 hours for a police officer to arrive, she said in an email.

The Northern District Police Station has assigned two full-time officers to patrol the foot and bicycle beat in Hayes Valley, Andraychak said. The station has also conducted several plain clothes operations to combat street crime and theft. Recently, one of these operations recovered $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise from a merchant who was burglarized overnight, Andraychak said.

A lieutenant also frequently meets with Hayes Valley merchants and attends community meetings "in an effort to educate the public on crime prevention and to gain feedback from the community," Andraychak said.

Fiddlesticks recently installed two Nest surveillance cameras and a doorbell system. More expensive merchandise is displayed near the back of the store and register, and employees are instructed to call a neighboring store for backup if they are working alone and suspect a thief is at work.

Generally, thieves are easy to spot, says P.K. Cummings, who has worked in various retail stores and cafes around Hayes Valley for the last five years. In many cases, shoplifters will come in holding large bags with no fastening at the top, pretend to be distracted by their cell phones, and wear baseball caps to obscure their faces from security cameras. Then, there's the shoes. Thieves tend to wear nice-looking clothes and inexpensive footwear, which are more difficult to steal, Cummings explained.

Employees are advised to "verbally confront" possible shoplifters but to never act as a "hurdle" or otherwise put themselves in physical danger, though confrontations do happen on occasion.

Cummings, who works at Flight 001 in Hayes Valley, said she's seen one thief intimidate shopkeepers around the neighborhood with a hatchet. At a coffee shop, a man was once threatened her with a rusty broomstick and ran off with the tip jar.

In one of the first thefts Leu recalls at Fiddlesticks, a man with a sawed-off shotgun locked her employee in a closet and ransacked the cash drawer, she said.

"She was psychologically traumatized by it," Leu said of the employee. The foremost priority of anti-theft protocol is to keep her staff out of harm's way.

"I don't care what happens to me, though," she said. "I'm so fed up, I will do anything."

It's not clear where the stolen merchandise goes. Most of the Hayes Valley retailers interviewed for this story suspect a "crime ring" in which crews steal goods and sell them to bosses. Leu says she's seen some of her store's stolen clothing worn by kids in the neighborhood.

"Where does it go? I've searched. I'm done searching. It's like chasing a ghost," she said. "It doesn't get me anywhere."

Most Hayes Valley business owners think more could be done to protect their property, whether it's synchronizing community efforts, strengthening the merchants' association, or increasing the number of beat cops patrolling the neighborhood.

"Sure, this is part of the business," Leu said of the thefts, "but this goes on way more than it should."

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

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