An Oakland gas station owner is reeling after a mob of about 70 people robbed and ransacked his California convenience store, causing about $100,000 in losses.
No arrests had been made as of Sunday. The incident took place early Friday amid a large auto sideshow in front of the gas station near Oakland International Airport. The store was open for window service only, its owner told KRON-TV.
A group of people drove a car into the glass door about 4:30 a.m. Friday, threatened two employees who were inside, and began running rampant, owner Sam Mardaie, told news outlets. Though the employees called 911 after running outside for safety, it took police hours to respond, Mardaie said.
“They got away with it,” owner Sam Mardaie told KNTV-TV of the marauders. “They were here for 40 minutes. You could tear a whole city down in 40 minutes. Every time I think about it, the more it hurts.”
Surveillance video caught the thieves yanking drinks from fridges, throwing stolen goods into boxes, and grabbing anything they could. They also stole about $22,000 in cash by absconding with both his register and his ATM machine, Mardaie told CBS News.
Police said they didn’t receive the call until after the mob had departed and that the scope of the incident wasn’t clear until they saw the footage that “made clear the scale and details, including the large number of suspects,” the Oakland Police Department told KRON.
Oakland has been battling soaring crime in a wave severe enough to have shut down businesses along what is known as the airport corridor. The exodus includes businesses such as In-N-Out Burger and Denny’s.
With News Wire Services