Car burglaries up as tourists flock to San Francisco for Fourth of July holiday

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Tourists are flocking to San Francisco on this July Fourth holiday, but so are predators - specifically car burglars.

There's been a huge spike in auto burglaries.

Lombard Street - the "crookedest street in the world," is crooked in other ways too.

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It's a magnet for smash-and-grab car burglars. The warning signs are everywhere, but even tinted windows are no deterrent.

Two suspects were arrested last week after they broke into parked cars there.

They were captured near the Embarcadero after a short police chase. Police say there are more than 200 car burglaries in the city each month, many of them in the central district which includes Lombard Street and downtown San Francisco.

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"In the last two months I can safely say they've made over 80 arrests in the district alone," San Francisco Police Captain Paul Yip said.

It's also spiked at Alamo Square Park. One estimate is that there are six or more car burglaries a day around the famous "painted ladies."

The warning signs are also everywhere, but people are still being careless.

Mike left his backpack in his rear car seat. We told him about the dangers of leaving it there, so he took his backpack and stored it in his trunk.

"Thank you for your reminder," he said.

Then, there was Novi and her friends from Indonesia. Her handbag was sitting in plain view on the back seat. "I noticed your car has some baggage, some bags. You should put it in the trunk," we told her.

Novi and her friends heeded our warning, taking the purse and other bags and putting them in the trunk.

"Thanks so much. Thank you so much."

Want to know what the weather will be like here for the Fourth of July? Click here for the latest AccuWeather forecast.