An unmarked police car that was stolen in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Wednesday was found abandoned this afternoon in a parking garage on Geary Boulevard, police said.
The car was taken at about 4 p.m. Wednesday after officers got out of it to assist another officer with a 29-year-old man who was allegedly resisting arrest near Hippie Hill, police said.
The officers left the keys inside the car, and a man jumped in and drove off.
The car was found at about 1 p.m. today in the parking lot of a Kragen Auto Parts store near the intersection of Third Avenue and Geary Boulevard, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.
An employee from the auto parts store had called police after noticing it was an undercover car, Esparza said.
The vehcile, which was undamaged, had apparently been abandoned there at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
The man who stole the car remains at large, and Esparza said investigators will process the vehicle for fingerprints.
Police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said earlier today that the officers had acted appropriately despite losing the car.
“We do always try to secure the vehicles, but depending on the urgency, that’s not the number-one concern,” Dangerfield said.
The 29-year-old man who was resisting arrest near Hippie Hill on Wednesday was eventually taken into custody and booked at the Park Station on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale and resisting arrest, police said.
Dan McMenamin/Janna Brancolini, Bay City News
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