An out-of-towner who was robbed of camera equipment in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood on Thursday night is the latest camera-toting tourist to be targeted in the city in recent months.
At about 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, San Francisco police responded to a report of a robbery at North Point Street and Columbus Avenue, about two blocks from the waterfront.
The victim, described as a 57-year-old man, was apparently walking with a camera around his neck when a man approached and pushed him to the ground, police said.
The suspect, described as a man between 20 and 30 years old, ripped the camera from the victim’s neck and then fled the scene in a silver four-door vehicle.
Police said the suspect was described as about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 190 pounds and wearing a black jacket, black jeans and a knit cap.
Officers have not arrested any suspects or located the stolen camera.
Police said the victim didn’t report seeing a weapon and said that he was not injured in the attack.
Similar robberies of camera-touting tourist by suspects who escaped in waiting vehicles occurred at least twice in October.
In August, two San Francisco men allegedly shot a tourist in the shoulder while robbing him of his camera in broad daylight near the city’s famously crooked Lombard Street, police said.
The tourist was shot when he ran after the suspects in an attempt to get his equipment back.
Police eventually arrested the two suspects in Oakland after they attempted to evade police via the Bay Bridge.
In July, two Bay Area news crews on assignment near the San Francisco Ferry Building were robbed of their professional camera equipment at gunpoint.
Police have arrested a 23-year-old San Francisco man in connection with the robbery of the news crews but are still looking for his suspected accomplices.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
