San Francisco Police Investigating Recent Robbery In Chinatown's Stockton Tunnel
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police in San Francisco are investigating a recent purse snatching by two men that happened just outside the Stockton Tunnel in Chinatown that was caught on video.
San Francisco police on Thursday confirmed that the robbery happened over the weekend on Sunday shortly after 9 a.m.
A video that was posted on Facebook Wednesday showing the strong-arm robbery. In the clip, a young African-American male with slim build wearing black sweatpants and sweatshirt getting out of the back of a black four-door sedan. He walks south down the Stockton Tunnel pedestrian walkway and off camera.
When he reappears, the suspect is dragging a woman who is hanging on to her purse. A second African-American man wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt gets out of the car and tries to help the first man get the purse away from the victim. After much struggling the second man is able to get the woman to let go of the purse. Both men get back into the car and it drives away.
55-year-old attack victim Lihua Yang was trying to get to her job where she works as a hairstylist that morning. KPIX 5 spoke to her Thursday through a Cantonese translator.
"He took my bag and then I tried to protect my bag, so that's why I hold it. Then he continued to drag me and I fell down and he dragged me through the tunnel," remembered Yang.
Days later, she is still covered in bruises and has a bump on her head. She lost her purse containing her cell phone, credit cards, I.D. and $40 cash.
"When I went home that day, I couldn't even stand up because it was so painful," said Yang.
Lihua's attack happened just hours before a man was attacked while collecting cans in the Bayview district Sunday afternoon. A suspect in that robbery was arrested on Thursday, but a second suspect remains at large.
President of the Board of Supervisors Norman Yee says the violent robberies have to stop.
"We're not really seeing people as human beings who are struggling to actually survive in this city. In particular, the victims that I've been seeing, they are not necessarily filled with resources," Yee said.
The man who posted the video on Facebook, identified as Ron Cheng, said in the caption to the video, "This makes me so angry and sad at the same time....be careful out there you never who's out there waiting to take your s--t. Crazy world we live in now."
Police are investigating the case and have not identified the suspects yet. Police said they have no information that leads them to believe that the incident was racially motivated.
For her part, Lihua says she is permanently changing her route to work.
"I'm never going to walk that Stockton street tunnel again. No more," said Lihua. "I won't walk that tunnel. That tunnel is already very dark."
Andria Borba contributed to this story.
