SAN FRANCISCO—Kyung Lah, a journalist for CNN reported she and her crew were robbed while covering a story outside of San Francisco’s City Hall on Friday, March 17.
Multiple suspects approached their rental vehicle and shattered the back window. Lah wrote, “[CNN producer Jason Kravarik] & I were at city hall in San Francisco to do an interview for @CNN. We had security watch our rental car + crew car. Thieves did this in under 4 seconds. Security stopped the jerks from stealing other bags. But seriously- this is ridiculous.”
Their security tried to apprehend the suspects on the scene, but they drove away in a getaway vehicle which was a black-colored Infiniti with the license plate 9DJB515. “San Francisco is a beautiful city. This is our 3rd day here and I’ve loved my time here. But if you do visit this city, know that even with hired security watching your car, it is not enough,” Lah tweeted while sharing video of the shattered rear window of their car.
The suspects got away with the crew’s equipment and Lah’s ID and passport.
“Now I’m about to try to get an @SouthWestAir flight back to Los Angeles without ID or passport since they were both stolen. I’ll let you know how that goes…” Lah wrote. Since many get their cars broken into and their bags stolen, the airline issued the reporter a flight ticket after a brief security check.
She explained the CNN crew were in San Francisco covering a story about voter discontent caused by rampant street crime. Lah noted the irony.
Later that day, Lah’s stolen bag was found by a woman named Perla who is with the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs.
“Happy to report SF residents are fighting for their city, like @OCEIA_SF. They are a community safety patrol program, speaking 17 languages, run by residents,” Lah tweeted.
Kravarik’s bag was recovered with his computer missing but all his other personal items remained. When her colleague’s bag was discovered Lah tweeted:
“Restaurant staff told @jasonkCNN that they are angry with San Francisco crime and saw Jason’s ‘whole life’ was in his bag. They had to search for his number and finally found a business card. SF is filled w/good, frustrated people who deserve better.”
A Twitter user by the name of Ben Robbins wrote:
“I can barely imagine how betrayed law abiding SFO tax payers must feel with their government Highest per capita budget of any American city, but no law enforcement. Kinda hard to imagine how reparations will help anyone if they can be stolen in seconds with impunity, right?”
According to reports, the rise in San Francisco crime led to the 2022 ousting of the city’s progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, who over 55 percent of residents voted him out in a historic recall election. Some residents felt that Boudin was not hard enough on crime.
