Oakland Crime: Two Car Break-Ins THIS MORNING; Council Votes To Hire CHP

Oakland crime - too much of it.

We had the robbery of The 7-11 across from the Whole Foods Oakland Store on Valentine's Day night last week.

Then... two homicides that Saturday (that we know about).

Now..

An Oakland woman reports seeing not one, but two car break-ins this Wednesday morning - more detail below.

Meanwhile Oakland Councilmembers Libby Schasf (District 4 - Oakland Hills) and Lynette Gibson McElhaney talk about the Oakland City Council's decision to pay the California Highway Patrol 162K for 60-days of service in the form of five cars of two officers each, and one supervisor sergeant - all twice a week for that period.

Here's Councilmembers Libby Schasf (District 4 - Oakland Hills) and Lynette Gibson McElhaney:




And on the car break-ins:

This report popped up in an email to me from an Oakland Yahoo Group (I didn't detail it to protect the name of the person) this morning:

Hi Neighbors -

Unfortunate news to report this morning. There were TWO car break-ins on 9th Street btwn Jefferson & Clay.

One of them happened in front of our unit # 569. I saw this happen about 2:10 in the morning. I had just looked out the window and seen the guy smash the window and I screamed at him. He took off running without breaking out the entire window or grabbing anything. I only saw the back of him, he was a black guy - likely 40s or older, had on a jersey type sweatshirt - with red arms and a grey back. Possibly a hoodie.

The second break-in happened three vehicles down from this one, closer to the front lobby entrance of Market Square. In fact - it was only one car away from the first parking spot. This one I did not see - though my dog alerted us to something happening outside and this could have happened prior to the break in I witnessed. I did not call the police last night, though I will make sure to contact the PSO about the incidents.

About a month ago, I witnessed another car break-in also in front of Market Square, in front of my next door neighbor's unit. My screams at that guy hurried him along but not before he grabbed something from the car and ran off. That guy was white, also 40s or older, he was very thin and wearing a yellow or light colored workman's jacket - like a Carhartt jacket. I called the police on that one.

I have also seen guys case cars - mostly near the City Center parking - on the street level (11th between Clay & Broadway). In those two instances, the guys were black, young late teens, early twenties. I notified security then police.

I don't know what to do about all of this, it seems as of late it doesn't matter whether you park on the darker streets or the streets that are more well lit. All I can say, is to put all items in your car away, in the truck or take them out all together. In seems it doesn't matter if it is valuable or not, the thieves are out to take whatever they can.

I have reported incidents to Bridgeport this morning. I have also asked Karla to make sure the lighting along the perimeter of the building is fixed. She said she is going to contact the electrician to have him make sure he checks the perimeter lighting within the next couple of days

Not safe times in our lovely city, but the good news is that we have gained revenue unexpectedly.

Stay tuned.