Thieves drove a car into the Dior store in San Francisco early Thursday, smashing the facade’s front doors and destroying glass display cases to ransack the luxury store.
The car’s impact on the door shattered the metal gates and broke through the double glass doors. While police officers assessed the damage, workers replaced doors Thursday morning, with glass strewn across the sidewalk and entryway.
Police responding to reports of a burglary in progress arrived at the store at the intersection of Grant Avenue and Post Street around 6:49 a.m., San Francisco police spokesman Gonee Sepulveda said.
Eyewitnesses told police that three vehicles stopped in front of the retailer and one car crashed into it, Sepulveda said. People got out of all three vehicles, entered the store, stole items and then fled.
The occupants of the car that crashed into the store probably fled on foot, the spokesman said. The officers arrested two escapees, but were looking for an unknown number of other people.
A worker makes repairs after a robbery at the Union Square Dior store in San Francisco.
Nora Mishanec/The Chronicle
According to police, officers were looking for the drivers of the cars, including one who was seen entering a freeway entrance shortly after the break-in.
Two years ago, mass break-ins occurred in Union Square, where thieves on a night-time spree stole goods and vandalized Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Bloomingdale’s, Jin’s Eyewear, Maxford’s Jewelry and Yves Saint Laurent. Police stopped break-ins at Fendi – even though the store was damaged – and Hermes, and later arrested eight young adults suspected of being involved.
Under pressure from angry residents and store owners after the high-profile retail crime spree, Mayor London Breed and the city’s top law enforcement officials increased police presence in the storied shopping district ahead of the 2022 holiday season and urged shoppers to return.
Dior did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday; Neither did the advocacy group Union Square Alliance.
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