Tourists were shocked to be the victims of a brazen theft in San Francisco, and the incident led to video going viral on social media.
The video shows the men confronting the alleged thieves after they allegedly stole items from their vans. Two of the men can be seen hanging off of the sides of the getaway car as it speeds away. One falls from the car and tumbles to the street, while the other fell off after the video ended.
The video went viral on social media and garnered over 10 million views.
One victim, Dmitrii Koval, told KPIX-TV that he was on a tour of the West Coast with his friends from Russia, Kazakhstan, and the East Coast when the incident unfolded on Wednesday.
Koval said they were standing next to the vans when the suspected thieves smashed the windows and grabbed their belongings.
His friend, Gennadiy Kolesnichenko, explained why he held on to the car as they drove away.
“What I was trying to do in the beginning, I was trying not to let the driver, who was trying to get away, to turn the wheel,” Kolesnichenko told KPIX. “I was just, like, hanging there until I realized he’s just going to keep accelerating. If I’m not going to just jump now, it’s going to be something really bad.”
They said they lost about $10,000 worth of cash, electronics, and other belongings, including their passports.
Koval, who is from Boston, said that his friends suffered serious injuries from the altercation and one was hospitalized for several days.
“I’m still shocked about this, I couldn’t believe it can happen during the daytime in a tourist place, the most attractive place,” Koval added.
“I’m afraid to be in downtown, to go there. We need to go and pick up the passports,” he said. “One of my friends told me, ‘Oh no, I’m not going there.'”
Here’s the viral video on a local news report:
Tourist’s attempt to stop Fort Mason vehicle burglary goes viralwww.youtube.com
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