SFPD Arrest Parking Lot Con Artist

On January 5, 2013 at 1040 AM, an officer assigned to Central Police Station was conducting a patrol of a parking lot at Bay and Kearny Street when he was approached by a tourist who had just paid the suspect to park in the lot. The tourist felt uneasy about the “parking lot attendant” and wanted the officer to verify that the man was indeed a parking lot employee.

During the course of the investigation, the officers determined that the suspect, George Gerald Anderson, 50, of San Francisco, represented himself to the victim as a parking lot attendant. The victim, a 61 year old male from Riverside County, gave Anderson cash and saw him pocket the money. When the first police officer pulled into the parking lot, the victim saw that Anderson noticed the approaching police car and then saw Anderson place the money into the lot’s parking ticket machine. Officers also noted a sign directing motorists to deposit parking money into the ticket machine as the lot did not use a parking attendant.

The victim placed Anderson under citizen’s arrest and officers found a number of used parking lot tickets in Anderson’s pocket. One of these tickets matched the receipt that Anderson had placed under the victim’s vehicle windshield wiper. Anderson also made a statement to officers pointing out the he had been the subject of a recent newspaper article about parking lot con-artists. Anderson has prior arrests in San Francisco for numerous theft related crimes and is currently on probation for possessing or receiving stolen property. He was charged with theft by trick or device, theft with a prior conviction, destruction of evidence and a probation violation. He remains in custody.