A San Francisco man has been charged with multiple allegations of crimes related to auto burglary under a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.  

The 28-year-old man pleaded not guilty to an auto burglary in the Richmond District, including allegations of second-degree auto burglary, unlawful entry of a vehicle, two counts of hit-and-run driving, being an unlicensed driver, possession of burglary tools, one count of resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer; and one count of receiving or buying stolen property.  

Prosecutors allege the defendant burglarized a rental car last Friday and then hit two vehicles, one of which was a UPS truck, fleeing after each collision.  

This is the first case that the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has filed for unlawful entry of a vehicle since the implementation of Senate Bill 905, which was authored by State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. 

SB 905 closed the so-called “locked door loophole” that Wiener called a “senseless requirement that prosecutors prove that a car door was locked — even when there were broken windows or other clear evidence of forcibly entry — in order to convict a suspect of auto burglary.” 

Pending trial, the court ordered the defendant to report to case management five times a week and he is mandated into drug treatment, prosecutors said.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.