SF dealership GM frustrated with police after suspect steals SUV, crashes over hill in Twin Peaks

Thursday, January 19, 2023

SF dealership GM frustrated after SUV stolen, crashed in Twin Peaks

"This could have been stopped 24 hours ago, easily," The GM at a luxury car dealership in San Francisco says that police initially ignored his report of a stolen SUV, the same vehicle that a suspect later drove off a hill in Twin Peaks.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Police say a drunk driver stole an SUV, led officers on a pursuit, then crashed it off a hill in the Twin Peaks area overnight.

Investigators confirm it was the same Range Rover first reported stolen by a dealership in the city.

INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker

Home to luxury cars in San Francisco, a suspect broke into the Jaguar Land Rover San Francisco dealership late Tuesday night.

"They broke in, they looted the place, and then, stole a Range Rover and drove it through the side of the building," Brian Flippo, General Manager of the Jaguar Land Rover San Francisco dealership said.

Pushing the brand new Range Rover, valued at $148,000, through an overhead garage door.

Flippo called SFPD Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. to report it, but they never showed up.

MORE: Suspect steals ambulance in SF, abandons it in Oakland after pursuit, officials say

"Multiple calls throughout the day, an email to the Mayor's office, an email to the chief of police's office and no response," he said.

It wasn't until the next morning when he woke up to an overnight voicemail from police, finally getting back to him for the first time.

"Informing me that they had recovered the vehicle and it was badly damaged, and then I saw it on the news," he said.

Police, working to take a report from Flippo at the dealership more than 24 hours later on Thursday, confirm the dealership's stolen Range Rover is the same one which a suspected drunk driver rammed into a marked police car late Wednesday night, before leading officers on a chase, driving off the road and falling down a huge hill in Twin Peaks, landing on another parked car.

"First thing I thought was that this could have been stopped 24 hours ago, easily, we could have recovered the car yesterday," he said.

But this isn't the first time his calls for help have gone unanswered. Flippo says he called a half dozen times a week for the past few weeks with multiple disturbances to his business, some, even violent.

VIDEO: Dozens of cars targeted in break-in sprees in San Francisco, Oakland

In just the last few days, as many as 20 cars in Oakland and 17 in San Francisco were targeted by thieves in a spree of break-ins.

Now he's forced to keep the front doors to his business locked for safety, even during business hours.

"Clearly, they're understaffed, but it's not acceptable," he said. "At the end of the day, the business owners, we don't feel like we have any rights anymore, it's tougher and tougher to do business in the city."

ABC7 reached out to San Francisco Police about his concerns but haven't heard back yet.

The SUV landed sideways on another car on Gardenside Dr. on Wednesday night.

The driver was pulled out of the SUV and taken to the hospital, but his condition is not known.

Police say he is in custody with charges pending their investigation.

Anyone with information on the incident can call SFPD at 415-575-4444.