The owner of an Oakland, Calif., gas station was put off by a flash mob robbery that saw dozens of criminals ransack the business Friday, especially after police allegedly took hours to respond.
“My aunts and uncles were talking [how] The United States is the place to be, and then you go to this and you see something like this happen, and it’s scary. It just shouldn’t happen,” Sam Mardaie, a Yemeni immigrant whose shop was left with about $100,000 worth of damage, told Fox News on Sunday.
“It’s just unbelievable,” he added.
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The image (left) shows the flash mob looting the Oakland gas station. Owner Sam Mardaie is pictured at right. (KTVU/Fox & Friends Weekend)
According to The New York Post, Mardaie estimated that somewhere between 80 and 100 people entered the gas station last week after attending a nearby car show, tore through shelves and stole whatever they could grab — including $25,000 from the cash register. .
The report said the thieves were allegedly upset because the 24/7 store only offered window service during the night hours.
The entire incident was caught on camera and the criminals were caught taking items from the fridges, grabbing items from behind the counter and taking items from the shelves.
Mardaie told “Fox & Friends Weekend” that he had worked for ten months since opening the store to build his customer base, but it all fell apart within an hour.
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This image from FOX affiliate KTVU shows thieves stealing items from the store’s refrigerator. (KTVU)
According to the Post report, Mardaie claims it took police nine hours to respond to his calls for help. Returning to his displeasure with the police response on Sunday, he called it “unacceptable”.
“We had no response from them,” he said, noting that he is scheduled to meet with the local police chief on Wednesday.
“We got no excuse from them, not even an apology [for] neither showing up, nor having the decency to even show up. I would understand if they came an hour or two later after the incident, but not until 2:30. It was time they showed up,” he added.
Two employees were in the store at the time of the incident and were threatened by the suspects, according to FOX 2, an affiliate based in California’s Bay Area, which includes Oakland.
OAKLAND SMALL BUSINESS OWNER SAYS CRIME TRICK SITUATION: ‘IF I GO TO SAY SOMETHING, THEY COULD’VE GOT ME’
Crime in the Bay Area remains a major concern for business owners and residents, who feel like they need to be extra vigilant. (Fox News)
In a statement to FOX 2, local law enforcement “said they received and responded to a burglary call at a nearby 76 gas station about 90 minutes later and had initially listed the crime as a Priority 2 — which would says that no suspect was at the scene and that the crime can be reported online.”
The media also said that after video of the incident was sent to local police, they ranked the crime as priority 1 and sent an officer to the scene.
Local law enforcement also told the outlet they were responding to a sideshow at a nearby airport.
Fox News also previously reached out to local police for comment.
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Brie Stimson of Fox News contributed to this report.