Authorities have arrested one suspect and are searching for a second in the theft of a vehicle with two young children inside, according to multiple sources.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 25-year-old Erlin Romero was apprehended around 11 a.m. on Feb. 10 and booked into San Francisco County Jail later that evening. Romero was booked on charges of first-degree robbery, child abandonment, car theft, and others. He was also wearing an ankle monitor when he was arrested; the device was a term of his release from jail while awaiting trial for previous arrests. Romero was facing two open cases of vehicle theft and robbery and had no prior convictions.
Romero is believed to have attempted to steal a silver Honda Odyssey at around 8:45 p.m. on Feb 6. The car was parked on the 2100 block of Jackson Street in San Francisco. Jeffrey Fang, a DoorDash driver and the vehicle’s owner, left the car with the engine running to drop off a food delivery. When Fang returned, someone else was inside the car and drove off, with 4-year-old Winnifred Fang and 1-year-old Sean Fang still inside. Tony Xu, CEO and co-founder of DoorDash, tweeted a statement about the incident at 11:57 a.m. on Feb. 7.
At around 10:57 p.m. on Feb. 6, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) issued an Amber Alert for Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Commander Raj Vaswani of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) tweeted that the search for the missing car was ongoing, with all available units on the investigation. At 1:13 a.m. on Feb. 7, the SFPD tweeted that the two children and the missing vehicle were found in the Bayview District of San Francisco; they have since been reunited with their parents. CHP deactivated the Amber Alert four minutes later.
The second suspect is currently unidentified and still at large; anyone with information about the crime or the suspects should call the SFPD at 415-553-0123.
This story will be updated as information becomes available. It was originally published on Feb. 7, 2021 at 12:51 a.m., and last updated on Feb. 10, 2021 at 2:20 p.m.
Steve sun • Feb 19, 2021 at 9:32 am
California is weak on crime this is clearly a case of kidnapping and they should hold the criminal that did it accountable. They stole the car and are therefore responsible for all their actions. If they ran and killed someone would they be charged with just stealing a car or vehicular manslaughter. The DA needs to charge the appropriate charges. All the children may be forever scarred by this action.