Bussiness
VIDEO: Massive crowd robs California gas station after car crashes into glass
A large crowd of people robbed a 76 gas station near the Oakland Airport on Friday morning, the gas station’s owner told KTLA sister station KRON.
The owner of the 76, who identified himself as Sam, said about 40 to 50 people stormed into the market connected to the gas station at about 4:30 a.m.
Security footage obtained from the gas station shows increasingly more people perusing around the store and grabbing store property.
In an interview, Sam said a group of people drove a car into the glass of the gas station’s market. He said people took anything they could and trashed the rest.
When the owner called the Oakland Police Department upon arriving at the 76, he was allegedly told to “file a report online.” The owner then tried contacting OPD police chief Floyd Mitchell, but was told he had to make an appointment.
OPD said officers responded to a sideshow on Hegenberger Road near the airport that included more than 100 vehicles at about 4:30 a.m. About 90 minutes later, police received a call about the 76 robbery.
The call was made after the suspects left the scene, which is why the owner was told to file a report online, 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,” OPD said.
The following morning, Sam said workers were on the scene cleaning up the market.
In February, visiting Texas residents were filling up their car at the same 76 gas station before being robbed of their belongings.