They said it: Who’s to blame for runaway retail thefts?

They said it: Who’s to blame for runaway retail thefts?

“I said, ‘Why didn’t you stop him?’ She goes, ‘Oh, the governor. . . there’s no accountability.’ I said, ‘That’s just not true.’”

— Gov. Gavin Newsom, recalling an encounter with a Target store clerk after seeing a thief leave without paying for merchandise. He said the clerk blamed the governor, whom she didn’t recognize, for supporting laws lowering property crime penalties and spurring retail thefts.