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San Francisco recently arrested a crew of shoplifters, the oldest in the group was 18 and the youngest was 12. They had allegedly carried out more than a dozen robberies. Today the SF Standard published the story about another thief, aged 23, who has been arrested at least 10 times since 2020. Her name is Denayaha Duree and the list of her crimes makes for interesting reading.

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2020

Nov. 9: Duree allegedly steals from an Alexander McQueen boutique and robs a man in Union Square…

2021

Feb. 16: Duree allegedly steals more than $950 in purses from the same Alexander McQueen boutique…

March 30: Judge Brian Ferrall releases Duree on her own recognizance during proceedings for four ongoing theft cases. Duree, who does not enter a plea before her release, is ordered to appear at all subsequent court dates. She is not placed on electronic monitoring or required to report to authorities during her release, court records show.

April 6: Duree fails to appear in court on the four pending cases…

2022

July 21: Duree pleads guilty to four counts of second-degree commercial burglary and one count of robbery. She is sentenced to two years in state prison but serves around six months due to time served while the case was pending. The other 12 counts are dismissed as part of a plea deal. All other pending cases against Duree are dismissed concurrent with her sentencing. 

Duree was released from prison in February of 2023 and three months later she allegedly stole a bunch of handbags from Louis Vuitton. Then in January of 2024 she (allegedly) entered Stonestown Galleria and stole 47 pairs of expensive sunglasses from a Lenscrafter store. A month later she fled to Hawaii but she was arrested by US marshals as she got off the plane. 

Denayaha Duree, of San Francisco, was arraigned last Friday and pleaded not guilty to all charges related to thefts at Stonestown Galleria and Union Square. She was arrested by US Marshals on Feb. 14 as she was exiting a plane in Honolulu.

On Jan. 29, employees at a store in the Galleria in the 3200 block of 20th Avenue allege that two women entered the store and started removing designer sunglasses from display cases and putting them into their bags. The women fled after being approached by an employee, but allegedly stole 47 pairs of sunglasses worth more than $20,000.

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While her case is proceeding slowly through the court system, the judge lets her remain out on bail. The Sheriff’s office twice requested an arrest warrant for her because she was violating the conditions of her bail, including trying to remove her GPS ankle monitor. In October, while still on bail, she allegedly is involved in another robbery:

On October 11, 2024, at approximately 2:42 a.m., San Francisco Police Officers were patrolling the area of Union Square and observed three vehicles recklessly driving away from a retail store on the 100 block of Post Street that had just been burglarized. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on one of the vehicles which fled at a high rate of speed and drove through a red light. Officers stopped pursuing the vehicle due to safety risks.

Officers returned to the scene, met with store security, and conducted a walkthrough of the business in search of other suspects. Through the investigation, officers were advised that two vehicles parked in front of the building while one vehicle backed into the doors and forced entry into the business. Multiple unknown suspects exited the vehicles and stole store merchandise prior to fleeing the scene. Investigators collected evidence and followed several leads in this investigation…

On November 1, 2024, SFPD Burglary Unit investigators developed probable cause to arrest a 24-year-old female, Denayaha Duree, for an unrelated burglary. On November 13, 2024, investigators developed probable cause to arrest Duree for this burglary who was currently in custody in San Francisco.

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In case you’ve lost track, that’s two more burglaries while she was out on bail for the prior cases, plus she failed to show up to court. She was finally arrested and is being held in jail without bail. It only took a year to get to this point.

You’d like to think that the judges in San Francisco are capable of learning from their own repeated failures but it’s not really clear that’s the case. And maybe instead of another sweetheart plea deal in which most of the charges against her are dropped, the prosecutors could hold out for some real prison time. This is not her first offense. She’s been arrested 10 times. Forget about criminal justice reform, mass incarceration and equity for a few minutes and just keep this career criminal off the streets.