San Francisco police officers found two missing children on Sunday morning after their father’s minivan was stolen with them while he was delivering the DoorDash in Pacific Heights.
Police said that around 1:15 am on Sunday they found the children safely inside the vehicle in Bayview. Two people remained free on Sunday afternoon. The children were examined by medical professionals and returned to the father.
“We are making a personal appeal to the people who were involved in this to surrender, as this crime was extremely serious and (theft) a vehicle to take two small babies from their parents and abandoned them – thank God our police officers were there until we found these kids, ”said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott.
Police said Jeffery Fang left his silver Honda Odyssey parked at block 2100 on Jackson Street with the engine running while delivering food at 8:47 pm on Saturday. Her two young children – a 1-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl – were in the vehicle when it was stolen, police said.
“It was panic and fear, and I needed to do something to get them back,” said Fang on Sunday. “I just had to find them.”
An amber alert was issued for the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Marin and Santa Clara shortly before 11 pm. The police mobilized all available units, including motorcycles, traffic checks and dirt bikes, to look for children.
“In the early hours of the morning, the police told me that they found the van with the children inside,” said Fang. “At that point it was – relief is an understatement – it was euphoria. It was like, ‘Oh God! Oh God! Yes, they are alive. They are safe. ‘”
The incident sparked a wide-ranging online debate over whether wages paid to gig workers are sustainable, especially during the pandemic.
“Doordash pays workers below the minimum wage. This means that workers and their families cannot afford childcare. This is on @doordash, ”said Gig Workers Rising, a community of application and platform workers who organize for better wages, working conditions and jobs, in a tweet on Sunday.
Fang, whose only source of income is the gig economy, said he did not earn enough to hire a nanny to care for his children and that he also feared that they could contract the coronavirus from their parents. Typical daycare hours are also inconsistent with peak food delivery times, which generate the highest profits for workers.
With limited options, Fang decided that the best and safest thing to do was to take his children with him while he worked.
“As a giant economy worker, the money stops the minute you stop working and the pay is low enough,” said Fang. “You don’t have to work harder than you want to, but in order to survive, there are only a few hours good enough for you to really be out there.”
It is a dilemma for many parents of younger children, especially those who are in the gig economy or those who work outside normal 9 to 5 hours, said Mary Ignatius of Parent Voices, a parent-led organization that advocates for accessible and accessible children Caution.
“Parents are having to make choices that they would not otherwise have made if we saw child care as fundamental to supporting working families,” said Ignatius. “The gig economy gives parents the kind of flexibility to choose their own hours and schedules. However, the daycare center does not meet the needs of parents who work and are part of this economy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ”.
According to a DoorDash representative, the San Francisco Dashers averaged more than $ 39 an hour in January.
DoorDash said in a statement that it posted an alert on its support page and sent a text message to all Dashers in San Francisco informing them of the incident and asking them to share any information they had with the authorities. DoorDash said it is working with the San Francisco Police Department on the investigation.
“We are incredibly relieved that the children are safe and have reunited with their parents,” said Tony Xu, CEO and co-founder of DoorDash, in a statement. “We were shocked by this blatant and heinous act and we are actively working with law enforcement in its ongoing investigation.”
Anyone with information about the incident should call the Police Department’s hotline at 415-575-4444 or send a tip to TIP411, beginning the text message with “SFPD”. Callers can remain anonymous.
Vanessa Arredondo is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @v_anana