Following the early Friday morning ransacking of the store by over 80 individuals, Oakland police were observed setting up shop around the 76 gas station on Hegenberger Road on Monday.
“40 minutes, you can do a lot of damage in 40 minutes, that’s how long they were in here for,” stated Sam Mardaie, co-owner and manager of the 76 petrol station.
Mardaie estimates that the damage done by the vandals exceeded $100,000. This also covers the $22,000 that was taken from their personal ATM.
He claims that the sole worker at the gas station’s window at the time fled out of concern for their own safety and reported the incident to the authorities.
“They said there was nothing we could do, just file a report online, that’s their response,” he stated.
Mardaie claims that an officer wasn’t dispatched to the area on Friday until nine hours after the event. The incident’s severity was unknown to the police prior to viewing this footage, they claimed.
“Based on the initial details the caller reported, the crime was listed as a Priority 2 burglary (no suspects on scene and appropriate for online reporting), and the caller was referred to online crime reporting,” the Oakland Police Department stated. “It wasn’t until later when the video evidence was reported that made clear the scale and details of the incident, including the large number of suspects. That’s when the incident was immediately elevated to a Priority 1 incident, which prompted an officer to go to the scene.”
Director Ken Houston of Oakland’s Beautification Council declared, “It was being looted, it’s lawless.”
Barely two weeks ago, when parked outside his company on Hegenberger, he had a rucksack containing all of his gadgets stolen and then compromised.
“This is a business that pays taxes to keep our city going, would you want to stay there and continue your business?” he stated. “Or would you move like Denny’s right down the street? Or would you move like In-n-Out?”
Treva Reid, a council member for Oakland City, represents this district. On Monday, she went to the 76 petrol station to meet with the proprietor.
“It has really shaken us, in the midst of seeing a 70 percent reduction in crime,” Reid stated. “The money that these businesses have been working to harden their stores and to protect their workers and to keep this regional gateway alive, to hear and see what’s happened, it’s been devastating.”
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She thinks there is still much work ahead of them.
“It shows us that there’s a lot more that we still have to do to protect these businesses our workers and just this tourism corridor, so that we can really keep our businesses protected, our workers supported and this corridor alive,” she stated.
Mardaie intends to hire two workers at all times and is thinking of closing closer to dusk. She also wants additional cops to be on guard.
“Start doing their job, patrol this area more often, I can’t stay in this area, because right now, it’s getting where the whole city of Oakland is not safe,” Mardaie stated.
According to Oakland police, no one has been taken into custody yet.
