A mob of gunmen reportedly attacked and robbed an armed employee guarding a truck full of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes in Oakland, California, with shocking video appearing to show the organized crime go down in broad daylight.
Security footage captured the chaos as eight masked robbers swarmed a security guard outside of a 7-Eleven at around 5 p.m. on Saturday before allegedly taking his gun and taser and descending upon the goods in the truck.
The video, obtained by KTVU, shows the entire 90-second incident happening right next to a busy intersection.
Several nearby witnesses recorded the crime and called 911, but it was too late, the Daily Mail reported.
The robbers managed to successfully get away with several boxes of cigarettes and tobacco, and no arrests have yet been made.
“It was scary, scary and it was scary for the customers,” said 7-Eleven franchise owner Rajen Giri to CBS News. “Everybody saw it. It was broad daylight so everyone was taking pictures from the neighborhood.”
According to the store owner, there was nothing anyone could do besides watch due to the danger of the situation.
He said that was not the first time he had been robbed of cigarettes, a common item to sell on the street, hence the armed guard.
The Oakland Police Department has responded to 3,279 robberies this year as of November 19 and has seen a 35 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022.
“We have not seen any significant steps taken by the city to prevent these things,” Giri told CBS.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is facing a recall as a result of the crime surge, with a group of hundreds of locals forming the Save Alameda for Everyone organization in a bid to oust her due to her soft-on-crime policies.
The group is made up of a “broad coalition of Alameda County residents, business owners, victims, victims’ families, and concerned citizens,” according to their website.
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