On February 26th, at approximately 9:40 PM, plainclothes members of the Night Investigation Unit were working in the Taraval District in response to a recent increase of home burglaries. The NIU officers began following a subject who was wearing a backpack while carrying a large surfboard-like item under his arm. They saw the subject open a garage door on the 2200 block of 37th Avenue, enter the building and close the door.
The subject reappeared later without the backpack, entirely empty handed and wearing different clothing. The surveilling officer briefly lost sight of the subject near 37th Avenue and Taraval Street. Another officer then observed that the gate covering a tunnel entrance in to a home on the 2300 block of 37th Avenue was standing open. These officers knew that many of the prior burglaries in the area were conducted by way of these tunnel entries. The officers began surveillance of this residence and observed the subject emerge from the open tunnel entry gate while carrying a bag in which several items protruding from it. The subject did not have the bag when officers lost sight of him a short time before. Believing that he had just witnessed a residential burglary, the surveilling officer alerted the other members of the team to move in and make an arrest.
The officers publicly displayed their SFPD stars on their chests and verbally identified themselves as police when they approached the subject while he turned the corner ont0 38th Avenue from Taraval Street. The subject refused to cooperate and actively resisted arrest. Back up units arrived and the officers successfully took him into custody.
Officers conducted an investigation at the scene and observed signs of forced entry at the victim’s residence. They conducted interviews with the residents and collected evidence. The officers determined that the subject was on probation with a search condition. They responded to his residence, which was in the garage of the first building that an officer saw him enter on the 2200 block of 37th Avenue. During a probation search, the officers recovered several items of evidence including a bike rack that is believed to have been the “surfboard” like object carried earlier by the subject.
Joseph Depaoli, a 40 year-old male, was later booked at Taraval Station for burglary, resisting arrest and a probation violation. Depaoli was out of jail on his own recognizance for a prior arrest and was recently released again on his own recognizance for this current arrest. His booking photo accompanies this news release.
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On March 1, 2017 at 11:30 AM, officers from Taraval Station responded to a reported burglary at a residence on the 600 block of Sloat Boulevard. The resident of the house awoke to find a suspect entering his bedroom. The suspect slammed the bedroom door shut and the resident looked out his bedroom window to see that suspect was climbing out of the kitchen window and into the yard.
At about the same time, another resident heard noise coming from a neighbor’s house and saw a man tumbling out of the neighbor’s window into the back yard. That suspect stood up and ran towards Sigmund Stern Grove Park, yelling, ‘Run, run, run!”
As officers began their preliminary investigation at the scene, additional officers entered Sigmund Stern Grove Park in an effort to locate the suspects. The officers noted two male subjects near the dog park area that matched the description of the fleeing suspects. Both men were breathing heavily as if they had been running. Officers detained the subjects and arranged for the witness and victim to come to the scene to determine if the subjects that were detained were the individuals who were seen at the scene of the burglary. The two subjects were positively identified.
Twenty year-old male Alexis Mancia and forty year-old male Rene Garcia, both from San Francisco were booked for burglary in the first degree, conspiracy and possession of burglary tools. Their booking photos accompany this news release.
“The officers involved in these incidents are to be commended for their quick actions in locating and identifying the suspects and for their diligent pursuit of these investigations,” said Police Chief William Scott. “Working together they have arrested three suspects suspected of burglarizing homes in the Taraval District.”
While arrests have been made in these incidents, they remain open investigations. Anyone with information on these burglaries is asked to call the SFPD 24 hour Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.
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On March 3, I hosted a community meeting in partnership with Supervisor Katy Tang. The meeting was held at the Self Help for the Elderly Center and was well attended. The goal was to reach out to the elderly community who are unable to attend our regularly scheduled meetings. During the meeting, with the assistance of translators, I was able to share the recent burglary series we had seen in the Outer Sunset. I shared with them the action plan we are utilizing to combat burglaries as well as our investigations and recent arrests. It was an opportunity for the community to ask questions of me and to receive tips to increase the security of their homes.
As a district, Taraval residents have been greatly impacted by the increase of residential burglaries and hot prowl incidents. In partnership with Supervisor Norman Yee and Supervisor Katy Tang, we are organizing a community meeting to address the concerns of the residents. We are tentatively planning for a meeting to take place on Wednesday, March 15 at 6:30 pm. Currently, we are attempting to secure a location for the meeting. Many of you have requested the meeting be held at Lowell High School and we are checking on availability. Asst. Chief Toney Chaplin will be joining in the discussion and I have invited the District Attorney’s Office to participate as well. This will be a great opportunity and I strongly encourage residents to join us in the discussion. Once the meeting time and location has been confirmed, my staff will publicize the meeting through the Taraval Website and flyers.
Please continue to contact me with your questions and concerns. Taraval Station 415-759-3100 or denise.flaherty@sfgov.org