San Francisco police have arrested a man suspected in two recent robbery cases.
On Friday, May 15, officers from the Taraval station responded to the 1500 block of 23rd Avenue, where a 75-year-old woman had allegedly been robbed of her necklace.
The woman told officers the suspect had approached her, tried to place an article of jewelry on her, and — while she was distracted — grabbed the necklace she was already wearing and removed it. The suspect then reportedly fled in a nearby vehicle being driven by a second suspect.
Three days later on Monday, May 18, the same suspect allegedly robbed a 94-year-old woman on the 1800 block of 29th Avenue at around 4:30 PM. The victim told police a vehicle approached her while she was walking and a man and a woman got out, restrained her, and removed her necklace and bracelet.
After leaving the scene, they reportedly returned a few minutes later and the female suspect tried to return the stolen jewelry.
On Wednesday, May 20, CHP were notified that the suspect vehicle had been spotted in southern California. CHP officers tracked down the vehicle and pulled the driver over on the Stockdale Highway near Bakersfield.
San Francisco officers soon responded with an additional search warrant and the two teams conducted a search of the vehicle, reportedly turning up several items of jewelry and other property.
The driver, identified as 33-year-old Florian Basica, was arrested while his passenger, a juvenile female, was released to a family member.
Basica was transported to and booked at the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of robbery, elder abuse, elder abuse likely to cause harm, conspiracy to commit a crime, grand theft, and possession of burglary tools.
