The owner of the Oakland gas station says the thieves caused $100,000 worth of damage
The surveillance footage is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
It shows a mob of nearly 100 robbers ransacking a gas station in California in the middle of the night.
The chaos unfolded at around 4:30 AM on Friday, July 5.
Dozens of masked thieves broke into the 76 Station, which is located near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
The scene at the store was absolute mayhem. The crowd was clearly unhappy that the gas station was only offering window service overnight.
They ransacked the place, grabbing anything they could get their hands on.
Owner Sam Mardaie estimates that between 80 and 100 people broke through the front door.
He told ABC 7 News, “Shelves were ripped apart, all the grocery items were torn or stepped on or vandalized.”
Between 80 and 100 robbers raided an Oakland gas station in the early hours of Friday morningKTVU FOX 2 San Francisco/YouTube
During the looting, the thieves took drinks, food items, boxes, baskets, a television, and even $25,000 in cash from the store’s register and ATM.
Mardaie shared his distress with KTVU, saying, “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.
Building yourself for the last ten months and then you’re back to square one.”
When the owner arrived at the gas station after the raid, he called the Oakland Police Department.
To his dismay, he was told to ‘file a report online’. Mardaie then tried to contact OPD Police Chief Floyd Mitchell, only to be informed that he needed to make an appointment.
The OPD later clarified that the call to law enforcement was made after the suspects had already left the crime scene.
As a result, it was listed as a Priority 2 incident.
According to owner Sam Mardaie, they stole goods from the stores as well as $25,000 in cashKTVU FOX 2 San Francisco/YouTube
In a statement, the OPD said, “Video evidence was later reported to OPD that made clear the scale and details of the incident, including the large number of suspects,”
“…And the incident was immediately elevated to a Priority 1 incident, which prompted an officer to go to the scene to make contact with the owner, and investigators are now reviewing evidence and working directly with the gas station owner.”
Oakland has been plagued by violent crimes in recent months.
Overall crime increased by 18 percent in 2023, with violent crime up 21 percent.
This includes murders, which soared from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.
On top of this, residential robberies surged by a massive 118 percent in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, one car per 30 residents was stolen in 2023.
