SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday, April 23, that a grand jury indicted Deshawn Patton, 21, of San Bruno, on 20 counts related to a spree of auto burglaries spanning over a year.
“We’re working closely with the police department to identify and disrupt the most prolific auto burglary rings,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “Individuals like this are behind the city’s property crime challenge, and by tying them to multiple incidents we can ensure they face consequences that are commensurate with the impact they’ve had on our community.”
According to a press release from the SFDA’s Office, court records indicated the crimes occurred between April 12, 2016 and May 18, 2017, wherein six out of the eight victims were out of towners, and six of the eight victim vehicles were rental cars. One victim was visiting from Los Angeles and the rest were from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Rhode Island, China and Germany. Officers attempted to arrest Patton on four occasions, but he fled each of the four times by ramming a police car, ramming a victim’s car that he had just burglarized or running on foot.
The indictment was handed down on April 19, and Patton was booked into the county jail on April 20 where he remains on a $625,000 bail. He was indicted on 11 felonies, including eight counts of auto burglary, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of resisting an executive officer, and one count of hit-and-run causing injury. He was indicted on nine misdemeanors including two counts of receiving stolen property, one count of possession of a burglary tool, one count of unauthorized use of a radio communication, three counts of resisting police officers, one count of theft, and one count of hit-and-run causing property damage.
In order to enhance the role that prosecutors can play in to reduce auto burglaries in the city, Gascón has requested funding for a specialized unit that seeks to tie repeat offenders to multiple offenses. By reviewing data, photos and video evidence of prior auto burglary incidents SFDA’s Crime Strategies Unit (CSU) is working with SFPD to enhance interventions compared to the traditional model which results in arrests being made for single offenses and prosecutions being brought for singular charges.
Gascón introduced an auto burglary digital tip line for the public and a private camera registry in order to support this initiative with help from the public. The DA is sponsoring SB 916 to close a loophole in the auto burglary statute. Special thanks go to the SFPD for their thorough investigation. ADA Shirin Oloumi is prosecuting the case with assistance from ADA Brian Bringadner and Paralegal David Ma.
