Mob of nearly 100 looters ransacks Oakland gas station as store owner says police took hours to respond: ‘Back to square one’
A mob of looters ransacked an Oakland gas station convenience store and caused thousands of dollars in damage as the frustrated store manager claimed police took nine hours to respond to his plea for help.
The horde, who had just attended a nearby car sideshow, broke into the 76 Station near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, according to ABC 7 News Bay Area.
Owner Sam Mardaie estimated approximately 80 to 100 people broke through his store’s front door and grabbed everything they could get their hands on.
“Shelves were ripped apart, all the grocery items were torn or stepped on or vandalized,” Mardaie told the outlet.
Video surveillance obtained by the outlet showed the looters snatching drinks from the fridges, food items off the shelves, boxes and baskets belonging to the store and a television.
Some climbed over the register and looted items from underneath the counter.
The mob was reportedly upset they weren’t allowed inside the store as the business was only offering window service, a normal occurrence for the 24/7 shop during the overnight hours.
Approximately $25,000 in cash was taken from the store’s register and ATM, but the looters couldn’t grab the safe.
Two employees inside the store were threatened during the mass pillaging, which lasted around 40 minutes, Mardaie told KTVU.
“This is the hardest thing you could ever go through…especially if you’ve been put in sweat and tears day in and day out,” the frustrated owner told the outlet.
Maradie says he and his family took over the business in August 2023.
“Building yourself for the last ten months and then you’re back to square one,” he added.
A call was placed to Oakland police but the dispatcher informed the caller the crime was listed as a Priority 2, as no suspects were on scene, adding it could be reported online.
It was only after a video of the mass looting was shared with the department that it was raised to a Priority 1 and an officer was sent to the store nine hours after the robbery began, according to KTVU.
Police explained to the outlet that officers had been responding to a sideshow near the airport that had over 100 cars and later responded to a burglary 90 minutes later.
The store’s customers shared their fears of the ongoing crime in the area.
“It’s very disheartening, I’m scared to go out after dark and I don’t know it’s just alarming,” customer Ebony Bolton told KTVU.
Oakland’s recent spike in crime forced several restaurant chains to close their stores in the area and caused one family to pull their son out of a local college.
The 76 station is located in the same area where In-N-Out closed its only location in Oakland in March because of the out-of-control crime and for the safety of their customers.
In February, a Texas attorney offered a $10,000 reward after her son, who had been refueling his rental car, was robbed at gunpoint at the same gas station, according to CBS News.
“It’s crazy. I mean it’s a daily thing. It hasn’t been a day since we opened in August that we don’t have an incident,” Mardaie told the outlet at the time.
“I come from Yemen, a third world country, and we don’t have those incidents in a third world country where there’s no law and order.”