A group of thieves have looted an Auckland petrol store, causing thousands of dollars in damage, as a frustrated store manager claims it took police nine hours to respond to his calls for help.
The crowd, who had just attended a car sideshow nearby, stormed Terminal 76 near San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport around 4:30 a.m. Friday, according to ABC 7 News Channel for the Gulf Region.
Sam Marday’s store owner estimated that between 80 and 100 people broke through the front door of his store and took whatever they could get their hands on.
“The shelves were torn up, all the food items were torn up, trampled on or vandalized,” Marday told the newspaper.
Surveillance cameras obtained by the newspaper showed the thieves stealing drinks from refrigerators, food from shelves, boxes and baskets in the store, and a television.
Some of them climbed over the register and looted the items under the counter.
Reports said the mob was upset that they were not allowed into the store because the store was only offering window service, which is normal for a store that operates 24/7 during the night.
Nearly $25,000 in cash was stolen from the store’s register and ATM, but the thieves were unable to take the safe.
Two employees inside the store were threatened during the looting, which lasted about 40 minutes, Marday said. He told KTVU.
“This is the hardest thing you can ever go through… especially if you’ve been through sweat and tears day in and day out,” the frustrated owner told the outlet.
Marady says he and his family took over the business in August 2023.
“You’ve built yourself up over the last 10 months and then you’re back to square one,” he added.
A call was made to Oakland Police, but the dispatcher informed the caller that the crime was listed as priority two, as there were no suspects at the scene, adding that it could be reported online.
The matter was not elevated to a top priority until video of the mass looting was shared with management, and an officer was dispatched to the store nine hours after the theft began, according to KTVU.
Police told the newspaper that officers were responding to a sideshow near the airport that had more than 100 cars, and then responded to a robbery 90 minutes later.
Store customers expressed concerns about continued crime in the area.
“It’s very frustrating,” one customer, Ebony Bolton, told KTVU. “I’m scared to go out after dark and I don’t know if it’s scary.”
A recent spike in crime in Oakland has forced several restaurant chains to close their stores in the area, and caused one family to withdraw their son from a local college.
The 76th Station is located in the same area where In-N-Out closed its only Oakland location in March due to out-of-control crime and the safety of its customers.
In February, a Texas attorney offered a $10,000 reward after her son, who was filling up his rental car, was robbed at gunpoint at the same gas station. According to CBS News.
“It’s crazy,” Marday told the newspaper at the time. “I mean, it’s a daily occurrence. Not a day has gone by since we opened in August without an incident.”
“I am from Yemen, a third world country, and such incidents do not happen in a third world country where there is no law and order.”