Stow Lake Camera Grab Injures 1 As Trend ContinuesPhoto: Tom Hilton/Flickr
Camden Avery
Published on November 07, 2016

One of the more alarming fads this fall has been the incidence of group muggings and thefts in broad daylight, especially around the tourist hotspots of the Richmond and Golden Gate Park.

Tourist-aimed robberies are nothing new, in San Francisco or anywhere else, but the run of them this fall are all strikingly similar: groups of young men (typically consisting of three to seven) attacking or camera-grabbing lone tourists in prominent, public tourist spots in the middle of the afternoon.

The latest in the string of incidents—which included a five-person car-assisted camera robbery at Sutro Heights a month ago and a seven-person mugging on Sharon Meadow days earlier—happened yesterday shortly after noon.

The victim, a 64-year-old man, was robbed by three men—all estimated to be around 20 years old—while photographing Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.

The victim was treated on site by a paramedic and released, but the camera wasn't recovered and no arrest was made.

A spokesperson for the SFPD Richmond Station, whose district covers Sutro Heights and all of Golden Gate Park west of Arguello, said he was unable to comment on whether camera grabs were on the rise.