San Francisco Blog

Robbed ... somewhere ... by somebody ... somehow.

The San Francisco Police Department is often raked over the coals for its failure to solve -- or even attempt to solve -- a number of the city's crimes.

But sometimes you've got to give the Boys in Blue a break. Take the following case reported at 11 p.m. on Sunday night.

A 45-year-old man took a cab ride from a bar with a 21-year-old man he met there to the younger fellow's home. Once there, the 21-year-old brandished a pistol, causing the older man to run and lock himself in the bathroom (an unusual M.O., to take someone back to your place to rob them -- but this gets weirder). The young man fired shots through the bathroom door, and the victim scrambled out a window. Some time later, the victim walked through the doors of San Francisco Southern Police Station at 850 Bryant. Somehow, he was short some money, making this a robbery. For those scoring at home, the victim:

• Did not know what bar he met the suspect in other than it was near Jones and O'Farrell;

• Did not know anything about the cab in which they traveled to the suspect's home, including the length of the ride;

• Did not know the suspect's neighborhood, let alone his address;

• Did not know how he came to straggle through the doors of Southern Station or how long before the robbery had taken place;

• Did not know how he came to lose his money.   

"Alcohol is considered a factor in this," said police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka -- who really may have missed her true calling as a straight woman in a comedy act -- think Margaret Dumont in a blue uniform. The victim was "Coherent enough to fill out a police report."

We'll see what the boys in the crime lab turn up.