Around 100 robbers looted a California gas station in the middle of the night.
Surveillance footage showed dozens of masked and hooded men taking their time stealing whatever they could shortly after 4:30 a.m. Friday at the Oakland station.
The raid appeared to be well planned and the events began after a car was deliberately crashed into the glass doors of the store.
As soon as the accident happened, the thieves were already on the scene and ready to steal everything they could, turning the place upside down in the process.
Meanwhile, the police were nowhere to be seen and the robbers were apparently taking their time.
In the video, the robbers can be heard laughing as they calmly walked through the aisles of the store looking for things to steal.
Around 100 robbers looted a gas station in Oakland, California, in the middle of the night.
The robbers were in no hurry and could be heard laughing on camera as they took what they wanted.
The owner, named Sam, called the Oakland Police Department upon arriving at 76 and was allegedly told to “file a report online.”
The owner said Crown 4 She then attempted to contact OPD Police Chief Floyd Mitchell, only to be told she needed to make an appointment.
Police later clarified that the call to police came after the suspects left the premises.
“OPD was later made aware of video evidence that made clear the scale and details of the incident, including the large number of suspects, and the incident was immediately escalated to a Priority 1 incident, prompting an officer to respond to the scene to make contact with the owner, and investigators are now reviewing the evidence and working directly with the gas station owner,” OPD said in a statement.
Just days earlier, Oakland’s progressive mayor, Sheng Thao, 38, had boasted of a decline in crime in the city, which has been plagued by crime in recent years.
Sheng Thao faces a historic recall election in November amid anger over his failure to get control of the situation in Oakland.
Oakland has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders that have skyrocketed from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year. (pictured) Police investigate a multiple shooting and a homicide at an Oakland gas station in January 2023.
“Oakland is seeing positive results from new public safety strategies,” the mayor said, claiming it was a “proven, data-driven strategy that focuses violence prevention by law enforcement and community resources on Oaklanders who are most at risk of being involved in violence,” the mayor said in a video.
Mayor Thao said that since the “Operation Ceasefire” was introduced, “violent crimes and general delinquency have declined significantly and steadily.”
The mayor did not provide figures explaining how crime levels had dropped significantly.
Thao, 38, faces a recall election Less than two years after assuming her mandate as mayor.
Rising crime and budget issues have been a challenge for Thao since he took office in January 2023 after a term on the Oakland City Council.
Oakland voters are upset about rising crime in the Bay Area city.
They say Thao’s progressive, soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and scared away businesses. It’s a story repeated in many progressive and Democratic cities across the country.
In the case of Mayor Thao, she had previously denounced the rise in crime, stating that the spike began in 2019, before her term in office.
But it is lax bail reform policies and the failure to successfully prosecute even minor crimes that have led to Oakland’s continued decline.
In Oakland, the city has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders, which rose from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.
Overall crime is up 18 percent in 2023, with property crime up 17 percent and violent crime up 21 percent.
And in the first four months of 2024, home burglaries were up 118 percent from the same period last year.
Surprisingly, in 2023, one car was stolen for every 30 residents.
The situation has prompted several major corporations to pull out of the city, citing fears for staff safety and the devastating impact of theft on retail.
The progressive Democratic lawmaker is the first mayor in city history to stand for recall, after a campaign to oust her garnered more than 40,000 signatures.
Public support for Thao has been waning and former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has urged her to resign.
“What’s really challenging is not just the absence of the mayor, but the absence of other city leaders stepping up at this time to make sure that residents and the people of the city of Oakland know that leadership is in place and working to help solve some of these problems,” said LeRonne Armstrong, a former police chief fired by Thao.
Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao was defiant and furious, insisting she had done nothing wrong and had no plans to resign from her post.
Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao was defiant and furious, insisting she had done nothing wrong and had no plans to resign from her post.
Mayor Sheng Thao read from a prepared statement and did not take questions four days after FBI agents removed boxes from the home he shares with his son and his partner as part of an investigation that included searches at two other homes owned by another family.
Retired Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who is leading the recall campaign, is calling for Thao to resign.
“She should do the right thing and resign. The FBI raid is going to be a distraction, no matter how you look at it. Even if she’s not charged, it’s going to be a distraction trying to manage this investigation and trying to run a city,” Harbin-Forte said.
