San Francisco police arrest crew of retail theft suspects as young as 12

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

In a news release on 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 a carjacking this month 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 Paulina Henderson.

The other suspects are 14 and 15 years old who live in San Francisco, Oakland, Pittsburg and Oakley. They were all charged with various counts of theft. 

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

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

Police at the Mission Station recognized five of the boys from another assault that day at 24th and Mission streets. 

Detectives pored over other cases, police said, and began to identify other thefts that the suspects were allegedly linked to based on descriptions, victim similarities and their modus operandi. 

Police said they believe these eight suspects have been involved in at least 23 organized retail crime thefts at various Walgreens locations in San Francisco, totaling over $84,000 in stolen merchandise.

Here are specifics on some of the thefts. 

• Seven masked suspects gathered outside the Walgreens at 2050 Irving Street on July 11. Employees locked the doors and called the police. The boys then forced the door open and stole over $1,300 in merchandise, police said. 
• Seven boys entered the Walgreens at 1333 Castro Street on Aug. 18 . One of the suspects jumped over the front counter and stole a cash register. The loss was over $6,500, police said. 
• Nine suspects entered the Walgreens at 2690 Mission Street on Sept. 9. While they were leaving with more than $1,000  in merchandise, one of the boys pulled out a gun and waved it at a security guard, police said. 
• Eight boys entered Walgreens at 1333 Castro Street on Sept. 29 and stole over $15,000 in merchandise, police said. The same group came back with five more friends and stole almost $12,000 in merchandise, police said. 

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