City official ‘shaken’ by 76 gas station robbery, owner calls on police to ‘do their job’

By Lena Howland

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    OAKLAND, California (KGO) — Oakland police on Monday were seen staging around the 76 gas station on Hegenberger Road on Monday after more than 80 people ransacked the store early Friday morning.

“40 minutes, you can do a lot of damage in 40 minutes, that’s how long they were in here for,” Sam Mardaie, the manager and co-owner of the 76 gas station said.

Mardaie believes the vandals caused upwards of $100,000 in damage.

That includes the $22,000 dollars taken from their own ATM.

He says the only employee working the gas station’s window at the time left for fear of their own safety and called police.

“They said there was nothing we could do, just file a report online, that’s their response,” he said.

Mardaie says, it wasn’t until nine hours after the incident, when an officer was sent to the scene on Friday.

Police said they weren’t aware of the magnitude of the incident until seeing this video.

“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 said in an emailed statement. “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.”

“It was being looted, it’s lawless,” Ken Houston, Director of Oakland’s Beautification Council said.

He had a backpack with all his devices stolen and later hacked while parked outside his business on Hegenberger just two weeks ago.

“This is a business that pays taxes to keep our city going, would you want to stay there and continue your business?” he said. “Or would you move like Denny’s right down the street? Or would you move like In-n-Out?”

Oakland City Councilmember Treva Reid represents this district.

She went to the 76 gas station on Monday to meet with the owner.

“It has really shaken us, in the midst of seeing a 70 percent reduction in crime,” Reid said. “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.”

She believes their work is far from over.

“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 said.

In the meantime, Mardaie plans to have two employees at all times and is considering closing closer to sunset, while asking for more police to keep watch.

“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 said.

Oakland police say no arrests have been made at this time.

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