A man reportedly stole a construction vehicle from the 55 Laguna site this morning, leading police on a destructive chase around the area.
According to The Examiner, the man (described only as "in his 20s") stole the truck from Haight and Laguna around 10am, a theft that one witness describes as a "car jacking":
Just saw car jacking of a red pickup truck from a construction site in the Haight, looks like suspect has been caught #grandtheftauto @SFPD
— Andrew Goldstein (@goldstein_andr) July 30, 2014He then apparently drove down into the Mission, where he crashed into several cars and drove the wrong way on 11th Street. At one point, he was maybe even driving on the sidewalk:
Just saw the *craziest* auto theft and car accident at market at van ness. Dude stole a truck and was driving on sidewalk. Hope all are ok.
— Brian Tobin (@briantobin) July 30, 2014One witness wrote to us with his observations from the scene:
"Big car accident on Market at Van Ness. Black lincoln town car was smashed. As I got closer I saw a red truck gun its engine, hop up onto the curb, and drive between the subway escalator and the Honda dealership. Pedestrians dove out of the way. It turned onto Van Ness and sped south. A few minutes later I was biking eastbound on Market and the same red truck zoomed past me, followed by cop cars. It was swerving erratically and made a left turn onto either Grove or McCallister."
The reckless driving got the police's attention, and they pursued him toward Civic Center. The driver abandoned the car at Grove and Polk, and fled on foot.
casual car chase in the morning... dude jumps out of a car and runs into civic center.. cops take him down #justatypicalmorning #sf
— Mo (@mmoondra) July 30, 2014Indeed, police "tackled him to the ground" at Grove and Larkin, according to the Examiner, and arrested him. A photo of the abandoned truck was snapped by one observer:
Construction workers say this truck was stolen from worksite. Police chase ended at Polk n Grove, avoid.@kron4news pic.twitter.com/cbAoqC10Fq
— Dan Rubin (@DanRubinTV) July 30, 2014The driver was booked on stolen vehicle and hit-and-run charges. The whole situation is now under investigation.
We'll update if there are any further developments. In the meantime, stay alert and stay safe out there, folks.
