Violent attack on wedding photographer at Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco has neighbors on edge
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Many Marina District residents are rattled by the latest brazen attack and attempted robbery of a wedding photographer at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Cell phone video captured the violent assault in the middle of a photoshoot with a bride and groom last Wednesday.
Anna Chung and her young daughters visit the Palace of Fine Arts at least once every day. They live just three blocks away.
But after seeing video of the latest crime, she questioned whether she should keep up her family routine.
"That's unbelievable. We've seen car break-ins around here, but that's kind of next level," said Chung. "Really unfortunate, it just kind of makes us feel a little bit hesitant especially, it's dark earlier in the evening. And even tonight I was wondering if we should do our lap around."
On Monday, they did their lap around the tourist attraction. They breezed by broken glass on the street - the aftermath of an all too common smash-and-grab. In fact, Chung's 8-year-old daughter witnessed a car break-in while riding her bike at the Palace of Fine Arts a few months ago.
"He drove his car up to the other car and he kind of just broke, and I couldn't really see, because he was so fast," said Nia Ohler. "I wondered why he did that because everyone was looking."
This year in the Northern Police district, which includes the Marina, there have been 5,385 cases of larceny theft, compared with nearly 4,795 during the same time period last year.
Robberies have remained roughly the same. There have been 262 this year so far, versus last year, when there were 290.
"It made me feel kind of unsafe," said Ohler.
"Little unsettled with little ones, and definitely a bit more worrisome than I'd like to," added her mother Chung.
Around the park, there are signs warning people not to leave belongings in their cars.
"It's normal. We walk here almost daily and there's always glass," said Cow Hollow resident Antonio Sala.
"Within the past few months is when I decided to order pepper spray and I didn't used to do that, especially in this neighborhood," said Chung.
Adding to the frustration, SFPD Chief Bill Scott said the department needs more than 500 officers.