Congressman and senatorial candidate Adam Schiff was told not to leave anything in his car while staying in San Francisco, but he says he was in a hurry and left his luggage, which got stolen while the car was in a parking garage.

Schiff was in town this week for a couple of appearances, and at one on Thursday in Burlingame he told the assembled dinner guests that he was wearing street clothes and a hiking vest because his luggage had been swiped. The dinner at Ristorante Rocca was in honor of attorney Joe Cotchett and his support for Schiff's campaign for Senate.

"Yes, they took my bags,” Schiff told the Chronicle. “But I’m here to thank Joe."

Longtime San Francisco press agent Lee Housekeeper was reportedly there, and he reportedly quipped, "I guess it’s 'Welcome to San Francisco.'"

Schiff told the Chronicle's Kevin Fagan that he didn't want to dwell on the theft, and he remained in good spirits.

And, this type of crime, while commonplace in SF, has actually been going down! At least in the first quarter of this year, larceny theft is down 35% compared to last year.

The New York Post and other conservative outlets have, naturally, picked up the story, with the Post noting that San Francisco saw "a whopping 1,670 car burglaries" in one 30-day period last year. (Doesn't New York have that many in a week?)

While Schiff represents a congressional district in the Los Angeles area, he spent some formative years in the Bay Area, moving to Alamo in Contra Costa County when he was 12 years old and attending high school in Danville.

Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey each took about the same percentage of the vote in the March primary for Dianne Feinstein's former Senate seat, around 31.5% each. The sizable Democratic majority among California's electorate should hopefully give Schiff the advantage in November.

Top image: Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) talks to members of the media after voting on March 05, 2024 in Burbank, California. Democrats and Republicans will vote in 15 states on Super Tuesday. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)