Surveillance cameras caught a break in at BASA, the cannabis dispensary on Grove Street in San Francisco, last week.
“I was angry when I saw the footage,” said Anisa Alazraie, her father owns the pharmacy.
The break-in is annoying enough – but this is the fifth break-in into their business, and Alazraie said it was the police reaction – or lack of them – that angered them even more.
“I was like, ‘Why aren’t people reacting, why aren’t the police working hard to keep our business safe? So that our roads stay safe? To deter or intervene when a crime is ongoing? ‘”She said.
On November 16 at 5:37 a.m., a video shows the first suspect leaving the pharmacy with a bag in hand and then getting into the alleged getaway car.
About two minutes later, another suspect runs out of the building.
Within 10 seconds, the video shows a police car with its headlights – probably to warn the suspects that they are seeing them.
It seems the suspects are getting nervous – they drop stolen products on the floor before climbing into the car.
At this point, a second police car is in sight, but no officers outside.
Seconds later, the last suspect runs out of the pharmacy and when the getaway car makes a three-point curve before escaping.
Alazraie says it was after the suspects drove away when a police officer is seen outside their patrol car. And the officer doesn’t seem to be moving urgently.
A criminal record was made, but no arrests.
“We feel that we are very closely connected and important to the community, so it is sad that this care is not reciprocated when we have been in a time of need,” said Alazraie.
This latest break-in came just days before the recent retail theft at Louis Vuitton in Union Square – which is seen using force to arrest suspects.
“That stung,” said Alazraie.
She added that small businesses like hers need the same urgency and police response.
“We should see this kind of perseverance and hard work especially in our neighborhoods, our communities that have been the anchors of San Francisco,” she said.
Alazraie says the suspects got away with products valued at thousands of dollars.
San Francisco police said they had reached out to the Alazraie family to lodge a complaint with the police.
They said an investigation into the incident and the department’s response are now under way.
