Caught on camera: Ambush, armed robbery outside Oakland 7-Eleven
OAKLAND -- A terrifying armed robbery in broad daylight in Oakland's Grand Lake neighborhood was caught on a convenience store's surveillance camera.
It happened in the 7-Eleven parking lot at the corner of Grand Avenue and Mandana Boulevard at around 5 p.m. Saturday.
In the video, multiple masked men point guns at the security guard. The armed guard was their first target. The gunmen took his pistol and later tossed away his Taser.
Once they had the guard on the ground, the robbers went into the delivery truck to grab large containers of cigarettes.
"It was scary, scary and it was scary for the customers," said 7-Eleven store owner Rajen Giri.
Giri witnessed the robbery from inside his store. He had about five customers.
"Everybody (from the busy street) saw it. It was broad daylight so everyone was taking pictures (of the robbery) from the neighborhood," Giri said.
He said there was nothing anyone could do. There were eight men with guns, some with extended magazines. Witnesses at a gas station and inside restaurants across Grand Avenue told KPIX they were in shock. Some of them called 9-1-1.
Since it's not the first robbery targeting cigarette deliveries, a security guard accompanied the delivery driver to drop off cigarettes to the store.
"Cigarette is high value and they can easily, I think, sell it on the street," Giri said.
He said their most expensive merchandise is cigarettes. Each carton sells for over $100. In fact, robbers have repeatedly targeted convenience stores in Oakland, specifically for the cigarettes.
Oakland police say they have responded to 3,279 robberies from the beginning of the year to Nov. 19. They said that was a 35 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
"We have not seen any significant steps taken by the city to prevent these things," Giri said.
Surveillance video showed the robbery lasted about 90 seconds. Rajen believes the delivery driver lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes.
Neither the guard nor the delivery driver suffered any injuries. The security guard's handgun is still missing.
As of Sunday evening, there have been no arrests connected to the incident.
Giri said the delivery driver worked for Core-Mark. Core-Mark is the supplier for many convenience stores in the Bay Area. KPIX reached out to the company for more information but did not immediately hear back.