CNN correspondent reporting on street crime in San Francisco was the victim of a car break-in

To report on “rampant street crime” in the city, a CNN correspondent in San Francisco had her rented car broken into on Friday – even with hired security tasked with keeping an eye on the vehicle.

“Robbed. Again,” Kyung La tweeted after a break-in with a picture of a broken rear-view glass of a car.

“We had security guards watching over our rented car + crew car. The thieves did it in less than 4 seconds. It’s funny,” she wrote.

La said she and producer Jason Kravarik were at San Francisco City Hall when the thieves attacked, stealing two bags from the car.

A CNN crew traveled nearly 400 miles from Los Angeles to cover “voter disaffection over rampant street crime.”

“San Francisco is a beautiful city. This is our third day here and I loved my time here. But if you do visit this city, know that even with hired guards guarding your car, this is not enough, ”said the reporter.

The progressive city has seen an increase in crime, open-air drug dealing and robbery in the last few years, which led to the recall of soft-crime District Attorney Cheza Boudin last June.

While the overall crime rate for the first three months of 2023 was down slightly from the same period last year, the number of robberies continues to rise, with 525 robberies reported in San Francisco since January 1, data show.

In December, more than half of the city’s residents surveyed told the San Francisco Chronicle that they had been the victims of theft or theft, with most reports involving illegal vehicle entry.

La lost her ID and passport during the robbery, which would have prevented her from flying home under any other circumstances.

“Because so many people crash their cars and steal their bags, @SouthwestAir got very used to my lack of ID problem and gave me my ticket after a short security check without any problems,” she said.

Luckily for the couple, thieves threw away both bags later on Friday.

Restaurant owners found Kravarik’s bag after thieves threw it away while trying to break into a patron’s car. However, his computer was confiscated.