Two San Francisco restaurants are reeling after back-to-back burglaries left them suffering from what the owners say amounts to over $20,000 in losses.
Thai restaurant Saap Ver Damn Good! and Brazilian establishment Vaulin's Taproom and Wine Restaurant in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood were broken into by burglars just minutes apart early Friday morning.
At 4:56 a.m., 11 masked thieves—at least one of whom appeared to be armed with a gun—broke into the Thai restaurant at 88 Division St. One of the thieves even stopped to investigate a small tricycle on their way in.
Thieves tried to pry open the restaurant's front door but later smashed the window next to it to gain entry, according to surveillance video reviewed by The Standard.
Once inside, thieves broke apart a cash register to steal money.
They then broke down the office door and stole a safe, walking away with $10,000 in cash and leaving $5,000 in property damage in their wake, according to owner Nutnawat "Kobe" Aukcarapasutanun.
"I'm not comfortable doing business in San Francisco right now," Aukcarapasutanun said. "But it's happening everywhere else, right?"
Police responded to a report of a burglary at Saap Ver at 5:25 a.m. Friday and said a witness told officers three vehicles were parked outside the restaurant, which suspects used to flee the scene. A safe and a cash register containing U.S. currency were both stolen, police said. No arrests have been made following the burglary.
Aukcarapasutanun will have to get his window and office door fixed, of which the former will cost over $1,000. He said he hopes he can take advantage of a city grant program to help small businesses pay for vandalism costs of up to $2,000.
Damage eligible for reimbursement through the grant includes broken windows, broken doors, broken locks, etching on windows, graffiti and other damage.
"I'm hoping the city will help pay for that," Aukcarapasutanun said.
'San Francisco Is Crazy Right Now'
Thieves also broke into Vaulin's Taproom and Wine Restaurant, located at 1114 Bryant St., at 4:48 a.m. Friday—just minutes before the Saap Ver Damn Good! burglary. The Brazilian restaurant lost two safes, an internet router, the DVR containing surveillance footage and six bottles of champagne in the theft.
Police have not said if the incidents are linked but confirmed the break-in at Vaulin's Taproom and said the suspects also fled in three vehicles.
Owner Vaulim Silva says thieves stole $6,000 in cash from two safes, along with Silva's Brazilian passport, green card and Social Security card. In total, Silva lost nearly $7,000.
Silva is worried about identity theft and is contacting his bank to protect himself.
"It's so stressful," Silva said. "San Francisco is crazy right now."
Losses from a burglary can extend beyond the cash stolen, as the actual break-in can cause extensive property damage.
Silva said it will cost $1,000 to replace his front door after it was pried open and $300 to replace his internet router.
There were 350 burglaries reported in SoMa in the 12 months before Dec. 13, compared with 406 during the same time period ending in December 2022, according to police incident data analyzed by The Standard. There were 330 reported burglaries in the same period ending in 2019.
Citywide, the number of reported burglaries has risen since pre-pandemic 2019, from 60 to 69 incidents per 10,000 residents.