"Laptops are hot property"
Thieves pilfer 1,000 laptops a year from cafes and offices in San Francisco.
By Alison Soltau, Staff Writer, The San Francisco Examiner

Brazen thieves are stealing a staggering 1,000 laptop computers in The City each year, robbing victims at gunpoint or distracting them in cafes for booty that's easy to pawn, police say.

Since the dot-com boom, thieves have prowled downtown hotels, coffee houses and offices with canny tricks to swipe a laptop. But in the past two months, cops say criminals have resorted to violence in stealing the lightweight computers.

In August, San Francisco resident David Evans, 18, allegedly stole laptops from six victims at gunpoint as they walked to work along the streets of the Western Addition, according to robbery Lt. John Loftus.

In another case, a band of criminals allegedly drove in a car up to victims, punched or threatened to assault them and made off with three computers in the South of Market area and Western Addition in September. Two of the three suspects are still at large.

Most thieves, however, are nonviolent, using distractions to casually walk off with the devices, said Inspector Rich Leon of the burglary detail. Criminals are drawn to laptops because they are light, often left unattended and raise no suspicion as they walk out the door.

"[Criminals] work in pairs in cafes. One drops a $5 note or even some coffee on the person who has the laptop and, while they are distracted, the other one steals the computer," Leon said.

In the past year, thieves have targeted conference rooms, lobbies and bell carts of downtown hotels, such as the Hilton, the Clift and Renaissance Park 55, dressed in a suit to blend in, Leon said. Or they hit office buildings with lax security.

Fenced at UN Plaza, Seventh and Market streets or the cable car turnaround at Powell Street, laptops are a black-market bargain, with a $3,200 model selling for $200.

Sam Mehta, 30, a project manager for home furnishings company Williams-Sonoma, works with an IBM laptop wired into the office at a cafe.

"Wow, 1,000 are stolen every year? That will probably make me more cautious," he said.

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