Haight Street merchants are on high alert after a robbery yesterday afternoon at long-running clothing and curio shop Distractions (1552 Haight). According to Distractions owner Jim Siegel, the robbery appears to have been part of a broader, week-long effort by a particular robber, who's been casing area businesses with vulnerable back offices and safes.

The robbery at Distractions occurred on Friday afternoon around 3pm, when a robber slipped behind the store's front counter, made his way upstairs to the office and stole the bank deposit out of the safe.

Siegel apprehended the robber in the office upstairs, attempting to restrain him. A fight ensued, causing a case of merchandise to break, and Siegel decided it was better to let the robber go with the cash, which was worth less than the damaged merchandise.

Siegel then chased the robber out of the store and up Ashbury Street, where he eventually dropped one of the cash bags and got away. Police were unable to apprehend him.

Just before the robbery, Siegel said, the same man had snuck into the upstairs of neighboring vintage store Held Over (1543 Haight), presumably to try to break into their office as well. He was apprehended by an employee and kicked out of the store.

Siegel described the robber as a black man in his early 30s with a thin mustache and a neck tattoo, roughly 5'10". At the time of the robbery, he was wearing a red cap and a red jacket or sweatshirt with yellow and red sneakers and blue jeans. (The photo of him, at the top of this story, was captured by a Held Over employee, who followed the man after catching him in the store.) 

According to Distractions employee Great Grandma, who was on duty with Siegel when the robbery occurred, the man was accompanied by three other men, who were loitering outside the shop on either side of the doorway and across the sidewalk during the robbery. 

In addition to Distractions and Held Over, the man tried to get into the private basement of Mendel's yesterday, Siegel said. Over the course of the week, he was also seen trying to get into the back of Love Street Vintage and Headrush.

Siegel told us he spent the afternoon going up and down Haight, warning other merchants to be on the watch for the robber. We'll let you know if he's apprehended, but in the meantime, business owners in the area should keep a close watch.

Thanks to tipster Jes R.