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SF State

Daylight phone robbery at a bus stop in front of campus; timely warning issued

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Under Investigation

On the morning of November 9, 2019, a person waiting for a bus at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue, directly in front of San Francisco State University's HSS Building, had his cell phone forcibly taken from his hands as he was texting, then watched the suspect run onto campus. The SF State University Police Department issued a Clery timely warning describing the robbery, the suspect, and his flight route across the campus. No weapon was seen, and the suspect was not apprehended.

Alerts
1
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
San Francisco State University
Public Masters · CA
All SF State cases →
~27,000 studentsSF State University Police Timely Warning
Official alert policy
Read when and how SF State says it will use SF State Alert: summarized, quoted, and analyzed.
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Confirmed wording is transcribed character-for-character from a primary source. Use Verify this quote under each message to open that source in a new tab and compare the text yourself.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Verified verbatim1127 chars
On 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM, a robbery occurred at the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building. The victim reported that at approximately 10:15 AM while he was waiting for the bus, an unknown suspect approached him and forcibly took his cell phone from his hands as he was texting. The suspect then ran southbound on 19th Avenue then turned and ran westbound between the HSS Building and the Science Building onto the SFSU campus. The victim and witness described the suspect as male adult wearing a grey jacket and grey pants. No weapons were seen or mentioned during the robbery. The San Francisco State Police Department is currently investigating the incident at this time. If anyone has information on this incident, please contact the San Francisco State Police Department at (415) 338-2222. UPD has increased patrols in the area in response to the incident and encourages SF State community members to remain alert and observant. Please report any suspicious or concerning activity to UPD immediately at 415-338-2222 from a cell phone or 9-1-1 from a campus line.
Verify this quote
SF State University Police Department, Archived Timely Warnings - 2019upd.sfsu.edufind archived copies
Text recovered from the SF State UPD official 2019 timely-warning archive page; the host 403-blocks automated fetching, so the wording was confirmed via repeated, identical search-engine excerpts of that official page rather than a direct page load
The warning distinguishes the report time (approximately 10:40 AM PST) from the victim's stated time of the crime (approximately 10:15 AM PST), a careful Clery-compliant separation of when the incident occurred versus when it was reported
Despite a snatch-and-grab of a phone from the victim's hands, UPD correctly classified the incident as a robbery (a Clery-reportable crime requiring a timely warning) rather than a theft, because force was used to take the property
2026-09-21 second deep audit b48 P3 partial: admitted-excerpt-or-snippet-assembled. Recapture full official body. Dual html.parser walk+regex strip. Cap-exempt R1.
Message elements

How the first alert is built

To check this alert, Claude Opus 5.5 (an AI) read it in full 25 separate times, independently. Each read decided whether the message answers each of the six questions and gave a short reason. A final reviewer then weighed all 25 and wrote the plain-English verdict you see when you open a row. The score (for example 22/25) is how many reads agreed; the 25 individual reads are tucked underneath if you want to check them.

On 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM, a robbery occurred at the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building. The victim reported that at approximately 10:15 AM while he was waiting for the bus, an unknown suspect approached him and forcibly took his cell phone from his hands as he was texting. The suspect then ran southbound on 19th Avenue then turned and ran westbound between the HSS Building and the Science Building onto the SFSU campus. The victim and witness described the suspect as male adult wearing a grey jacket and grey pants. No weapons were seen or mentioned during the robbery. The San Francisco State Police Department is currently investigating the incident at this time. If anyone has information on this incident, please contact the San Francisco State Police Department at (415) 338-2222. UPD has increased patrols in the area in response to the incident and encourages SF State community members to remain alert and observant. Please report any suspicious or concerning activity to UPD immediately at 415-338-2222 from a cell phone or 9-1-1 from a campus line.

  • Sourcepresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, unanimously. It names "The San Francisco State Police Department" and UPD as the investigating agency.

    Who is sending the alert and who is responding. People act faster on a message from a clearly identifiable, credible sender, such as a named department, the police, or a branded alert system, than on an anonymous notice. A branded signature counts.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: San Francisco State Police Department named.
    2. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    3. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    4. present: Names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD.
    5. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department as investigating.
    6. present: The San Francisco State Police Department is named.
    7. present: Names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    8. present: Names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    9. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department (UPD).
    10. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    11. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    12. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department.
    13. present: The San Francisco State Police Department is named.
    14. present: The San Francisco State Police Department is named.
    15. present: San Francisco State Police Department.
    16. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as investigating and issuing the notice.
    17. present: It names the San Francisco State Police Department and UPD as the investigating authority.
    18. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as the investigating agency.
    19. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as the investigating agency.
    20. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as the investigating agency.
    21. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as the investigating agency.
    22. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as investigating the incident.
    23. present: It says 'The San Francisco State Police Department is currently investigating' and refers to UPD.
    24. present: It names 'The San Francisco State Police Department' and UPD as the investigating authority.
    25. present: It says 'The San Francisco State Police Department is currently investigating' and refers to UPD, naming the source.
  • Hazardpresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, unanimously. It names "a robbery" in which a suspect "forcibly took his cell phone", a specific crime.

    What the threat actually is. A complete warning names the specific danger, such as a shooter, a fire, a tornado, or a gas leak, rather than a vague emergency, because people decide what to do based on what they are facing.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: Robbery of a cell phone.
    2. present: It names a robbery of a cell phone.
    3. present: It names a robbery of a cell phone.
    4. present: Names a 'robbery' of a cell phone.
    5. present: It names "a robbery" of a cell phone.
    6. present: It names a robbery.
    7. present: Names a robbery of a cell phone.
    8. present: Names a robbery.
    9. present: It names a robbery.
    10. present: It names a 'robbery' of a cell phone.
    11. present: It names a robbery.
    12. present: It names a robbery.
    13. present: It names a robbery.
    14. present: It reports a robbery.
    15. present: A robbery.
    16. present: It reports 'a robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone.
    17. present: It names a robbery in which a suspect forcibly took a phone.
    18. present: It names 'a robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone from a person waiting for the bus.
    19. present: It names a 'robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone.
    20. present: It reports 'a robbery' where a suspect 'forcibly took his cell phone'.
    21. present: It names 'a robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone.
    22. present: It reports a 'robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a phone.
    23. present: It names a 'robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone.
    24. present: It names 'a robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a cell phone.
    25. present: It names a 'robbery' in which a suspect forcibly took a phone.
  • Locationpresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, unanimously. It gives "the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building".

    Where the threat is. Saying whether danger is in a specific building, a part of campus, or area-wide lets people judge their own proximity and choose a safe direction. Without a where, a warning is hard to act on precisely.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    2. present: '19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    3. present: It gives the bus stop at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue.
    4. present: Gives 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    5. present: It gives "19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building".
    6. present: It says the bus stop at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    7. present: Gives '19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    8. present: Gives 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    9. present: It gives '19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    10. present: It gives 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building.
    11. present: It says 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    12. present: It gives 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    13. present: It gives 19th and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building.
    14. present: It names 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    15. present: 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue near the HSS Building.
    16. present: It gives 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    17. present: It gives the bus stop at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building.
    18. present: It locates the robbery at 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    19. present: It gives 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    20. present: It locates it at 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    21. present: It gives 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    22. present: It gives 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    23. present: It locates it at '19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    24. present: It places the robbery at the bus stop at '19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
    25. present: It places the robbery at 'the bus stop located at 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in front of the HSS Building'.
  • Guidancepresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, unanimously. It encourages community members "to remain alert and observant" and to report suspicious activity to UPD immediately.

    The protective action to take. A clear, specific instruction, such as shelter in place, evacuate, avoid the area, or run-hide-fight, drives faster and more correct protective behavior than describing the threat alone.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: Remain alert and report suspicious activity.
    2. present: It encourages the community to 'remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity.
    3. present: It encourages people to "remain alert and observant" and report activity.
    4. present: Encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity.
    5. present: It encourages members "to remain alert and observant" and report suspicious activity.
    6. present: It says remain alert and report suspicious activity immediately.
    7. present: Asks members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity.
    8. present: Encourages the community 'to remain alert and observant' and report activity.
    9. present: It urges members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity.
    10. present: It encourages people 'to remain alert' and report suspicious activity.
    11. present: It encourages remaining alert and reporting suspicious activity.
    12. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and report activity.
    13. present: It encourages remaining alert and reporting suspicious activity.
    14. present: It urges remaining alert and reporting suspicious activity.
    15. present: Encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and report activity.
    16. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and to report suspicious activity immediately.
    17. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and to report suspicious activity, a protective instruction.
    18. present: It encourages community members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity, which is protective guidance.
    19. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and to report suspicious activity.
    20. present: It encourages community members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity immediately.
    21. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and to report suspicious activity immediately.
    22. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and to report suspicious activity, protective actions.
    23. present: It encourages community members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity to UPD.
    24. present: It encourages members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity, a protective action.
    25. present: It encourages community members 'to remain alert and observant' and report suspicious activity, a protective instruction.
  • Timepresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, unanimously. It gives "11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM", a specific date and time.

    When the message applies. A timestamp, the word now or immediately, or a phrase like until further notice tells the reader whether the danger is current and how quickly to act.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: 11/09/2019 at about 10:40 AM.
    2. present: '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    3. present: It gives "11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM".
    4. present: States '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    5. present: It gives "11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM".
    6. present: It gives 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM.
    7. present: States '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    8. present: Gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    9. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    10. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    11. present: It gives 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM.
    12. present: It gives 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM.
    13. present: It gives 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM.
    14. present: It gives 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM.
    15. present: '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    16. present: The notice dates the robbery '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM', giving both a date and a clock time.
    17. present: It dates the bus stop robbery to 11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM, a specific date and time.
    18. present: The notice dates the robbery '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM', giving both a date and a clock time.
    19. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    20. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM' as the date and clock time of the bus stop robbery.
    21. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM'.
    22. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM' as the robbery time, providing both a date and a clock time.
    23. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM' as the date and time the robbery occurred at the bus stop.
    24. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM' as the date and time of the bus stop robbery.
    25. present: It gives '11/09/2019 at approximately 10:40 AM' as the time of the robbery, a specific date and clock time.
  • Impactabsent0/25

    Final assessment

    Absent, unanimously. It notes "No weapons were seen or mentioned" and reports no injury or severity, so no consequence of the robbery is conveyed.

    What the hazard could do to the people in its path. Beyond naming the threat, a complete warning conveys its potential consequences or severity, such as that a tornado can level buildings or that a leak could be explosive, so recipients grasp how much danger they are in. Research on warning message content finds that a concrete impact statement helps people personalize their risk and act sooner.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. absent: No weapons, no injuries, no severity stated.
    2. absent: No weapons and no injury; no severity statement.
    3. absent: It notes no weapons and states no consequence or severity.
    4. absent: Notes no weapons were seen; no consequence or severity is stated.
    5. absent: No injury or severity is stated; no weapons were seen.
    6. absent: No consequence or severity is stated.
    7. absent: No injury or severity is stated.
    8. absent: No injury or severity is stated.
    9. absent: It notes no weapons were seen and states no severity or harm.
    10. absent: It notes no weapons and states no consequence or severity.
    11. absent: No weapon or injury; no severity stated.
    12. absent: No injury or severity is stated.
    13. absent: No injury or severity is conveyed.
    14. absent: No weapons were seen and no consequence is stated.
    15. absent: Notes no weapons; no severity or consequence stated.
    16. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and reports no injuries or severity.
    17. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and conveys no consequence or severity beyond the phone theft.
    18. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or severity beyond the phone taken.
    19. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or severity.
    20. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or severity.
    21. absent: It says 'No weapons were seen' and describes no injury or severity.
    22. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury, consequence or severity.
    23. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or severity.
    24. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or consequence.
    25. absent: It notes 'No weapons were seen' and states no injury or severity, so no consequence is conveyed.

Coded by Claude Opus 5.5

Systematic AI judgments with visible reasoning, not human-validated codings.

About this analysis
Context

Background

San Francisco State University is a large public master's-granting institution in the California State University system, with roughly 27,000 students on a campus wedged between 19th Avenue and the Stonestown / Park Merced district in southwest San Francisco. The 19th Avenue corridor and the bus stops feeding Muni and SamTrans riders are heavily trafficked by students and non-students alike, and have long been a recurring location for street robberies. On November 9, 2019, a man waiting at the 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue bus stop in front of the HSS Building had his phone snatched from his hands as he texted; the suspect fled onto the SFSU campus itself, prompting a Clery timely warning from the SF State University Police Department. SF State's student newspaper, the Golden Gate Xpress, has documented a running pattern of armed and strong-arm robberies near the campus and the University Police practice of notifying the community by university-wide email. This case preserves the verbatim text of one such warning for a comparatively minor but Clery-reportable robbery, the kind of routine timely warning that rarely makes the news but defines the day-to-day texture of campus Clery compliance.
Analysis

Key Findings

A phone snatched directly from a victim's hands is a robbery, not a theft, under Clery because force was used, which is why SF State UPD issued a full timely warning for what might superficially look like a minor property crime
The warning carefully separates the report time (approximately 10:40 AM PST) from the victim's stated crime time (approximately 10:15 AM PST), modeling the Clery distinction between when an incident occurs and when it is reported
The suspect's flight path 'westbound between the HSS Building and the Science Building onto the SFSU campus' is the kind of specific, navigable detail that makes a timely warning actionable for readers who know the campus
Outcome
The suspect fled southbound on 19th Avenue, then westbound between the HSS Building and the Science Building onto the SFSU campus. University Police increased patrols in the area and asked anyone with information to call (415) 338-2222. No arrest was reported.
Provenance

Sources

Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.

  1. Official
    Archived Timely Warnings - 2019 (SF State University Police Department)
    upd.sfsu.edu
    archived copy
  2. Official
    Timely Warnings (SF State University Police Department)
    upd.sfsu.edu
    archived copy
  3. Student Paper
    String of armed robberies near campus raises concerns (Golden Gate Xpress)
    goldengatexpress.org
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "San Francisco State University: Daylight phone robbery at a bus stop in front of campus; timely warning issued." Incident of November 9, 2019. Added June 2026; last updated September 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/sfsu-bus-stop-phone-robbery-2019-11-09/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
robberytimely-warningcleryphone-theftbus-stoppublic-masterscaliforniacsusan-franciscodaylight-robberyUnder Investigation
Added June 2026Updated September 2026Via ingestion