Sunday night in the Mission District was nothing like the mayhem that happened after the Giants won the World Series in October. There were of course a lot of upset fans, but only some two dozen arrests of drunken revelers.
One person tried to set a tree on fire. But there were no series of smashed windows or bonfires. There were at least 100 extra officers, most of them deployed on the streets in the game's fourth quarter.
"But even before that, officers were checking in with their local bars and establishments, making sure management was okay and checking on the crowd size and any issues with anybody being overly intoxicated," said SFPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Mike Andraychak.
City crews had cleared street debris, and garbage bins were hidden to prevent rowdy fans from setting them on fire like they did after the World Series. Tow-away signs were also posted on streets in North Beach and in the Mission. But there was a costly faux pas.
City law requires that tow-away signs be posted 24 hours before cars can be towed so that drivers can have adequate warning. Signs were posted too late on a stretch of 24th Street and also on three blocks of Mission Street. But cars were towed and brought to the impound lot.
A group of vacationers from Belgium were among those who had to pay the expensive fee to get their car back. "It's $500 per car and we have two cars so it's $1,000," said tourist Antoine Smolders.
The city says it will reimburse those drivers whose cars were towed illegally. The SFMTA is setting up the procedures to do that.
