Forest Hill burglar sentenced
to 23 years in prison

By Adam Martin, Bay City News Service

March 22, 2006

A San Francisco man will spend nearly 23 years in prison for committing a string of burglaries in San Francisco's Forest Hill neighborhood in 2004.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charlotte Willard sentenced Vince Williams, 47, to 22 years and eight months after a jury found Williams guilty of a total of 12 felonies and three misdemeanors, San Francisco district attorney's office spokeswoman Bilen Mesfin said today.

Williams faced three felony counts of second-degree burglary, eight felony counts of receiving stolen property, one felony count of stealing a vehicle and three misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a pawn broker, the district attorney's office reported.

The jury hung on three counts of first-degree burglary.

Police arrested Williams on May 20, 2004, after he crashed a stolen car into a UPS truck. Police found stolen jewelry in the car and in the pockets of Williams' pants and stolen coat. Police alleged, and Assistant District Attorney Jerry Coleman argued, that Williams had burglarized six San Francisco homes, and had stolen the car, coat and jewelry from one or more of them, the district attorney's office reported.

Williams' attorney, Kenneth Quigley, was not immediately available for comment.

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