San Francisco Police Arrest Suspect in Grand Theft at the Gas Pump Case 21-012

On January 6, 2021 at approximately 3:15 PM, a 61-year-old female, San Francisco resident was pumping gas at a service station on the 1000 block of Harrison Street.  As she did so, a suspect approached the victim’s vehicle, opened the door, stole her purse, and fled.  When the victim returned to her car, she noticed that the passenger side door was open, and her purse had been stolen. The purse contained US currency, credit and identification cards, and a necklace; a family heirloom that had been passed down to her by her mother.

The victim filed a police report with Mission Police Station officers and the investigation was assumed by the SFPD Night Investigations Unit (NIU).  Investigators obtained evidence, including surveillance camera video, that led the identification of the suspect and his vehicle.

On January 14, 2021 at approximately 7:50 PM, NIU investigators, assisted by officers from Northern Police Station, conducted a traffic stop of the suspects Hyundai Sonata near McAllister and Gough Streets. The suspect, 55-year-old Kevin McWay of San Francisco was taken into custody.  The victim’s purse and necklace were located on McWay’s wife who was also in the car.  The stolen items were recovered and returned to the victim.

McWay was later booked at the San Francisco County Jail on the charges of grand theft (487(a)PC), unauthorized use of identifying information (530.1(a)PC), possession of stolen property (496(a)PC) and theft of access cards (484(e)PC).

While an arrest has been made, this remains an open investigation.  Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.  You may remain anonymous.