SAN FRANCISCO – An arrest has been made in connection with a break-in at a landmark LBGTQ+ bar in San Francisco’s South of Market, and the owner says he recognizes the suspect as the boyfriend of a woman who is part of the cleaning crew.

“This kind of situation is really demoralizing, devastating, really,” said Lex Montiel, who owns the SF Eagle Bar at 12th and Harrison streets. “It makes me very sad and angry and frustrated and a lot of other feelings.”

It happened just after midnight early Monday at the Eagle, one of the city’s oldest leather bars, which was awarded landmark status in 2021.

Surveillance video shows two men walking up to the bar. They used keys or copies of keys to get inside without forcing entry and used a code to disarm the alarm. They used a hand truck to remove a safe containing up to $25,000 in cash and bartenders’ checks.

Montiel says he believes one of the men has ties to a cleaning crew — who has since been fired — who also helped around the club.

They were related to the cleanup operation, people who had previously helped me do events and things like that,” Montiel said.

KTVU has learned that San Francisco police arrested 31-year-old Lucas Molina-Hernandez early Wednesday on suspicion of burglary and grand larceny. The second intruder is still at large.

The break-in occurs while the business is busy with renovations to make it more ADA compliant.

“It makes you angry that you might know someone who actually did this, versus a complete stranger,” manager Randy Maupin said.

Maupin said the theft hit the staff hard, especially because they are proud to hold fundraising events to support queer nonprofits.

“It’s our home, it’s our space. It’s what we give to our staff, to our community. So when someone comes in and invades and steals from you, you take it personally,” Maupin said.

He said the crime comes at a particularly difficult time during the holidays, when bar sales typically drop.

“It’s painful because a lot of businesses are already down 30, 40 percent and now that we’re in the slow season, some businesses could be a big break away from closing,” he said.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. Email Henry at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan