San Francisco police arrest group of 12-year-old retail theft suspects

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco police said they have arrested eight retail suspects as young as 12 who they believe are responsible for 23 incidents at various Walgreens stores totaling more than $84,000 in stolen merchandise.

In a news release Thursday, police identified the oldest suspect as Brandon McClain, 18, of Hayward, who was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and retail theft. He was also arrested on suspicion of car theft this month along with a 15-year-old, police said.

The 12-year-old from San Francisco was charged with assault, robbery, burglary, grand theft, organized retail theft and petty theft, according to San Francisco police Officer Pauline Henderson.

The other suspects are 14 and 15 years old and live in San Francisco, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Oakley. All of them have been charged with various counts of theft.

Police said the case began to unfold after a theft occurred Sept. 16 at the Walgreens in the 1100 block of Potrero Avenue.

According to police, several boys ransacked the store and two of them attacked an employee who asked them to stop. The employee suffered a serious head injury, police said.

Police at Mission Station identified five boys involved in another attack that day at 24th and Mission streets.

Detectives looked into other cases and began identifying other thefts the suspects were believed to be involved in based on descriptions, similarities of the victims and their modus operandi, police said.

Police said they believe the eight suspects were involved in at least 23 organized retail thefts at various Walgreens stores in San Francisco, totaling more than $84,000 in stolen merchandise.

Here are the details of some of the thefts.

• On July 11, seven masked suspects gathered outside the Walgreens at 2050 Irving St. Employees locked the doors and called police. The boys then broke down the door and stole more than $1,300 worth of merchandise, police said.
• Seven boys entered the Walgreens at 1333 Castro St. on Aug. 18. One of the suspects jumped over the counter and stole the cash register. The damage was more than $6,500, police said.
• Nine suspects entered the Walgreens at 2690 Mission Street on September 9th. As they walked away with more than $1,000 worth of merchandise, one of the boys pulled out a gun and waved it at a security guard, police said.
• On Sept. 29, eight boys entered the Walgreens at 1333 Castro St. and stole more than $15,000 worth of merchandise, according to police. The same group returned with five more friends and stole nearly $12,000 worth of merchandise, according to police.

Police said that despite the arrests, the cases are open and active. Anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD at 1-415-575-4444 or text TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.