Caught On Video: Oakland Woman Robbed In Broad Daylight By Motorist
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A young mother in Oakland got out of her car and moments later was confronted by a man with a gun. A video captured the robbery.
It happened last Thursday morning at the corner of East 16th Street and 36th Avenue, as folks were going to work in the Fruitvale district.
The robbery victim in the video is pretty shaken up, but otherwise okay.
The woman, who lives in Oakland, declined to do an interview, fearing for her own safety.
The robbery last week took only 10 seconds and happened to a young mother just after she parked her car. She walked across the street and as she looked into her purse, an Audi stopped right in front of her.
A man walked up to her with a gun in his right hand and the woman dropped the purse and put both her hands in the air.
Neighbors, too fearful to show their faces, say it's a common problem.
One neighbor said robbers are casing the neighborhood, looking for opportunities. They said robbers follow people from BART getting off work.
Sometimes, the robbers drive around in a group of two or three and either follow cars or look for cars that have just parked.
This actually happened to KPIX 5 reporter Da Lin's father twice - in one year. Both times, they robbed him right after he parked his car.
"The first time, the robbers parked half a block away so my father couldn't ID the suspect car. The second time, they just pulled up behind him and robbed him as he was leaving his car," Lin said.
The video also brings back some bad memories for Oakland Councilman Dan Kalb. A gunman robbed him near his house a few years ago. He believes they followed his car.
Kalb said he was driving across town in North Oakland and "coming from a crime prevention meeting," of all places, when it happened to him.
Compared to this time last year, however, overall robberies in Oakland are actually down 11 percent.