Woman Wakes Up to Stranger Sleeping in Her Car in San Francisco

A woman visiting San Francisco said she woke up to find a stranger sleeping in her car, and video showing her encounter has gone viral. 

“I was shocked, I was so shocked I was like, ‘Oh my god hold on wait a minute let me take a look again, let me take a second glance there's a man in my car asleep,’” said Breanna Smith of Sacramento.

There was no parking near her hotel in the city’s Nob Hill neighborhood so she parked about a block away.

“I don’t know how he got in because I remember locking all of my doors,” she said.

In the video, you can see the man trying to get out of the vehicle with all of his belongings and quietly apologizing.

Smith said there was no damage, the stranger just left some trash and, for some reason, aluminum foil in her ignition.

“Other than that he didn't really touch anything, he didn't like try to mess with my car in any type of way,” said Smith.

The video she posted on TikTok has racked up thousands of views and lots of comments.

So many, in fact, that Smith says she felt the need to make a two-part follow up to answer viewers questions.

Many of the comments read, “he seems sweet”, ”how are you this calm” and “my heart goes out to the guy, he probably just needed somewhere to sleep.”

Even though the situation was upsetting, Smith said she felt the same way and that’s why she didn't call police.

“They really don’t have anywhere to go as in the homeless people, there is a huge community of homeless inside Frisco so it's just really sad to the point that he needs to break into somebody’s car to lay down to rest for the night, that's really sad,” she said.

NBC Bay Area reached out to San Francisco police to see if they'd taken reports of similar situations lately but have not heard back yet.

As for Smith, she said this is another example of San Francisco's need to do more to help the unhoused. She added that next time she visits, she’ll be paying for valet parking.