San Francisco woman charged 120 times for alleged shoplifting arrested again, jailed
SAN FRANCISCO - A woman in San Francisco, who was arrested for 120 alleged shoplifting incidents and released on zero bail, is back behind bars after allegedly stealing again.
Police apprehended Aziza Graves, 41, on Dec. 4 at the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall and was charged with one count of petty theft. There were also three local warrants for her arrest and one warrant in El Dorado County, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Graves was previously arrested in November following an investigation by the District Attorney’s office and the police for thefts at a Target at the Stonestown Galleria totaling more than $40,000 from October 2020 to November 2021. She was charged with eight felony counts of grand theft and 120 misdemeanor counts of petty theft.
She allegedly used self-checkouts to scan the items and submit a payment of $1 or even one cent, and then left before the transaction completed.
"The suspect in this case has been a particularly brazen and prolific retail theft offender," San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said in a prepared statement at the time of Graves’ November arrest. "We hope this case — like many others on which we partner with our local prosecutors — sends a strong message to would-be shoplifters that their lawless conduct won’t be tolerated in San Francisco."
Despite prosecutors recommending she be held on bail, a San Francisco Superior Court judge released her and ordered her to sign up for a monitoring device and stay away from the Target. She violated the conditions of her release by not wearing her monitor and allegedly stealing again.
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The District Attorney is again seeking she be held without bail.
"Ms. Graves violated the court ordered terms of her release by committing a new theft, and by failing to sign up for electronic monitoring," District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s office said in an email to KPIX 5. "Therefore, we are seeking her detention without bail. Judges alone make decisions about custody and release, so we cannot say whether the court will grant our detention request."
We previously opposed her release to OR and had requested that she instead be released directly to the Sheriff’s Department to be fitted with electronic monitoring device prior to her release," the statement continued. "The judge instead decided to release her to another county."
San Francisco has been plagued by retail theft for months, which has escalated in recent weeks to smash-and-grab mobs targeting high-end retail establishments.
Mobs of thieves ransacked at least two dozen San Francisco area businesses over one weekend last month, high-end stores such as Nordstrom and Apple have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise stolen and damages to stores. Malls and other retailers are increasing security amid the holiday shopping season in response to the thefts.
The California GOP Chairwoman, Jessica Millan Patterson, told Fox News on Tuesday that Christmas shopping season has now been replaced with smash-and-grab crimes in the state, due to liberal policies.
"Smash and grab has replaced Christmas shopping in California, thanks to Democrats who have created a culture of theft in San Francisco and across the state. Criminals know there are little or no consequences for their actions. Until Democrats get serious about joining with Republicans to support better policies and public safety officials, surging crime and chaos will continue to be the status quo," Millan Patterson said.