'It is very dangerous and we have never seen it this bad,' Ahmed Ali, an Oakland storeowner who says his stores have been broken into numerous times. 'They come in groups and don't even seem to care they are caught on video.'
Video shows thieves in an SUV hook a chain to an Oakland store gate, then driving away to yank it open in a break-in.Oakland storeowners are asking the city to dedicate more resources to stopping the ongoing robberies of storefronts. Oakland police say car break-ins, store break-ins and street robberies have increased since 2020.
"Grabbing all the expensive liquor, broke into the office, took all the money," he said. "The damage was about $30,000." "These are efforts for individuals to get ahold of them very rapidly and then try and offload to a vendor to get more money or to have cash on hand," Allison said.