The San Francisco Chronicle reports that thieves smashed into Alex Rodriguez’s rented SUV Sunday night and made off with an estimated half-million dollars worth of jewelry and electronics. One. Half. Million.
San Francisco police said that the theft occurred a short walk from Oracle Park between 9 and 11 p.m., not long after A-Rod called the Phillies-Giants game. Among the items stolen were bags, a camera, camera equipment, a laptop, jewelry and miscellaneous electronics. The report said the SUV was rented by ESPN for “the broadcast crew” so it’s unclear if everything inside was A-Rod’s or if any of belonged to his colleagues, though only A-Rod was named in the report. Based on the photo in the Chronicle it is clearly not an ESPN production/equipment van, so we’re talking all personal items here, not pro-grade electronics.
Anyone who has spent a lot of time walking around Oracle Park and the surrounding area knows that, generally, it feels like a pretty safe area. New condos and upscale bars and restaurants and all of the hallmarks of a gentrified area of a wealthy town. As the Chronicle reports, however, there has been an epidemic of vehicle break-ins in San Francisco of late, with nearly 70 occurring in the city each day in the month of July.
Even if such an epidemic is not occurring, however -- even if one is parked on Main Street in Mayberry, North Carolina with Sheriff Taylor standing right there on the corner -- what in the hell is anyone doing leaving half a million dollars worth of crap sitting in their car?