SAN FRANCISCO – In the wee morning hours of St. Patrick’s Day, officers patrolling the area of Shafter Avenue and Ingalls Street were flagged down by a man who said his car, which had been parked on the 1800 block of Ingalls Street was burglarized.
He informed officers that his brother, having heard the alarm going off, looked out the window to see a female suspect running away with a bag in her hand. The brother then chased the suspect to a garage on the 1400 block of Shafter Avenue, where officers found her.
After a search, the suspect was found in possession of clothing, an iPod, health supplements, and money from the victim’s vehicle. The search also revealed the suspect to be in possession of a spark plug and flashlight, both of which the police consider to be common burglary tools. Officers arrested 55-year-old Deborah McDowell of San Francisco on auto burglary and possession of burglary tools.
McDowell resides in the Alice Griffith housing project about three quarters of a mile away from the scene of the burglary, near the old Candlestick Park stadium.