A group of looters ransacked an Oakland gas station, causing thousands of dollars in damage. The store’s frustrated manager claimed it took nine hours for police to respond to his plea for help.
The gang, who had just visited a nearby car show, broke into 76 Station near San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport around 4:30 a.m. Friday, ABC 7 News Bay Area reported.
Owner Sam Mardaie estimates that between 80 and 100 people broke down the front door of his store and took whatever they could get their hands on.
“Shelves were ripped apart, all the groceries were torn, stepped on or destroyed,” Mardaie told the outlet.
Video footage from the outlet showed the looters stealing drinks from refrigerators, food from shelves, boxes and baskets from the store, and a television.
Some climbed over the cash register and stole items from under the counter.
According to reports, the crowd was angry that they were not allowed into the store as it only had a counter, which is normal for a store that is open 24/7 during the night hours.
About $25,000 in cash was stolen from the store’s cash register and ATM, but the looters were unable to get into the safe.
Two employees at the store were threatened during the mass looting, which lasted about 40 minutes, Mardaie told KTVU.
“This is the hardest thing you can ever go through… especially when you’ve been sweating and crying day in and day out,” the frustrated owner told the outlet.
Maradie says he and his family took over the business in August 2023.
“You work hard for the last 10 months to build yourself up and then you’re back to square one,” he added.
A call was placed to the Oakland Police Department, but the dispatcher told the caller that the crime was a priority 2 because there were no suspects on scene. The report could be filed online.
It was only after video of the mass looting was shared with the department that the priority was raised to Priority 1 and an officer was dispatched to the store nine hours after the robbery began, KTVU reported.
Police told the newspaper that officers had been called to a fairground near the airport where more than 100 cars were parked and that they arrived 90 minutes later to a burglary.
Customers of the store expressed concerns about the ongoing crime in the area.
“It’s very discouraging. I’m afraid to go out late at night and I don’t know if it’s just alarming,” shopper Ebony Bolton told KTVU.
The recent rise in crime in Oakland has forced several restaurant chains to close their locations in the area and one family had to pull their son out of the local college.
The 76 station is located in the same area where In-N-Out closed its only Oakland location in March due to excessive crime and for the safety of its customers.
In February, a Texas attorney offered a $10,000 reward after her son, who was filling up his rental car with gas, was robbed at gunpoint at the same gas station, CBS News reported.
“It’s crazy. I mean, it’s a daily occurrence. There hasn’t been a day since we opened in August that we haven’t had an incident,” Mardaie told the outlet at the time.
“I come from Yemen, a third world country, and in a third world country where there is no law and order, we don’t have these kinds of incidents.”