Kit Hing Hui was born on February 2, 1922 in China. When he was a teenager he and his father immigrated to California, leaving behind his mother and brother. He attended school in Stockton and enlisted in the Army in 1942. He was a technical sergeant in one of the two all-Chinese-American units during World War II^[1]. Returning to the City in 1945 he learned that his father had died, his mother had been taken prisoner in Communist China and his brother had disappeared. Hui worked for a short time as a waiter and cook, but in 1949 he hunkered down in a cave just below Sutro Baths^[2]. He camouflaged the cave entrance with with branches and eventually found an abandoned mattress. He slept during the day and prowled at night, living off food, alcohol and cigarettes that he stole by breaking into nearby restaurants. He never took cash. Louis’ Restaurant, located just up the road from the Cliff House^[3], reported being broken into 17 times in 18 months. They finally installed a burglar alarm.

Local papers reported that someone was prowling around Sutro Baths and Playland at the Beach^[4], breaking into local restaurants at night. They nicknamed the burglar the “Phantom of Playland”. 

When boys discovered Hui’s cave in 1951 he moved to another cave about a quarter of a mile east of Lands End. He lived there for another three years. It is believed Hui only spoke to one other human being during those five years. 

On the evening of February 19, 1955 Hui was arrested as he attempted to break into  the Golden Gate View Coffee Shop at 1004 Pt Lobos. It turned out that his missing brother, who had moved to San Francisco and was attending San Francisco City College^[5], saw the news of Hui’s arrest and the brothers were reunited. Hui got out of jail on bail and lived with friends while finding a job ironing and folding laundry. When his story was made public the other restaurants he had stolen from refused to press charges. In May 1955 Hui pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and was sentenced to probation. He remained in San Francisco until his death on December 21, 2000.

^[1] World War II: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4222

^[2] Sutro Baths: story coming March 14th

^[3] Cliff House: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3811

^[4] Playland at the Beach: story coming August 16th

^[5] San Francisco City College: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4490