Oakland sees uptick in car thefts in typically quiet areas
OAKLAND - Police are investigating a violent carjacking that happened Sunday night on Skyline Boulevard in the Oakland Hills that's left neighbors fearful and frustrated with a sense of lawlessness in the city.
"I grew up in Oakland. I've been here my whole life. And it was not ever like this before," says Marvis, an Oakland native who asked that we only use her first name. She was walking near the scene of Sunday's carjacking with her husband and says she is reluctant now to travel alone at night.
"Yes, we need more police action. But that's only one part of it," she said. "One answer is that there needs to be more jobs for people to go into -- to legitimately make money. One answer is that the education system has to be better."
Oakland Police says the carjacking victim was driving on Skyline Boulevard around nine o'clock Sunday night when she was rammed by another car. Investigators say when she stopped her car, she was then robbed at gunpoint by a group of suspects who took her BMW and her purse
"There's got to be a consequence for what these people do. If there's no consequence, why not do it again?" says Elizabeth Gage who first spoke to KPIX 5 last month about being the victim of an attempted carjacking. Gage managed to elude her pursuers but remains haunted by the experience.
"This is not going to get better on its own. This is not a problem that's going to solve itself. This is an epidemic," she said.
The city's crime stats back her up.
According to Oakland Police, there were 369 carjackings in the city so far this year. That's up 24 percent compared to the same time period two years ago when there were 298.
Gage says she's made the difficult decision to leave Oakland.
"I have an alarm. I set that alarm the minute I get in my house. It's on all the time. To me, that's not a way to live," she said.