Caught on Camera: Armed Robbers Target Cigarette Delivery in Oakland
A scary daylight armed robbery in Oakland’s Grand Lake area was captured on camera by a convenience store. At approximately 5 p.m. on Saturday, it occurred in the 7-Eleven parking lot near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Mandana Boulevard.
Several masked males can be seen pointing firearms at the security guard in the video. Their first objective was the armed guard. His weapon was taken by the gunmen, who then threw away his Taser.
The thieves entered the delivery vehicle to take hold of the cigarette containers once they had the guard on the ground. “It was scary, scary and it was scary for the customers,” stated Rajen Giri, the owner of a 7-Eleven store.
A terrifying armed robbery in broad daylight in Oakland:
A terrifying armed robbery in broad daylight in Oakland Saturday was captured on a convenience store’s surveillance camera. https://t.co/EielkGZASB
— CBS News Bay Area (@KPIXtv) November 27, 2023
From within his business, Giri saw the robbery take place. He was doing business with roughly five people. “Everybody (from the busy street) saw it. It was broad daylight so everyone was taking pictures (of the robbery) from the neighborhood,” according to Giri.
There was nothing anyone could do, he replied. Eight males brandishing firearms, some with long magazines, were present. Witnesses across Grand Avenue at a gas station and inside eateries expressed disbelief to KPIX. A few of them made 9-1-1 calls.
A security officer went with the delivery driver to the store to drop down the cigarettes because this was not the first robbery that targeted cigarette deliveries. “Cigarette is high value, and they can easily, I think, sell it on the street,” Giri stated.
Cigarettes are their most expensive product, he claimed. Carton prices start at more than $100. Convenience stores in Oakland have actually been the target of multiple robberies, primarily for cigarettes.
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From the start of the year to November 19, 3,279 robberies were reported to Oakland police. According to them, there had been a 35% rise from the same time last year.
“We have not seen any significant steps taken by the city to prevent these things,” Giri stated. Based on surveillance footage, the heist lasted approximately ninety seconds. Rajen thinks the delivery man misplaced smoke valued at tens of thousands of dollars.
Both the delivery driver and the guard were unharmed. The gun owned by the security guard is still missing. There have not been any arrests in relation to the event as of Sunday night.
Giri mentioned that Core-Mark employed a delivery driver. In the Bay Area, a large number of convenience stores source from Core-Mark. KPIX requested additional information from the business but received no response right away.
