Three allegedly armed men were caught on at least two cellphone videos attacking an Asian man in broad daylight Thursday on an Oakland street, wrestling away his luxury backpack, then taking off in a getaway car.
What are the details?
KGO-TV anchor and reporter Dion Lim posted the videos on her Twitter page saying those who recorded them gave her permission to do so in order to bring awareness to the spike in such crimes but that they requested anonymity.
Lim said a man who works around 27th and Valdez Streets said he saw three men jump out of a car around 4 p.m. The clip shows a man on the ground struggling with two of the three men. Lim said witnesses and sources told her the men were armed; she added that the victim, who is Asian, was assaulted and that his Louis Vuitton backpack was stolen.
She added that the victim can be heard yelling “please!” multiple times as the driver of a passing car honks its horn, presumably to draw attention to the crime taking place. The victim is seen running after the getaway car, to no avail.
Lim said Oakland police arrived on scene a short time later and are investigating.
She added that people who work in the area — which is full of shops and businesses and housing — told her they see car break-ins and other crimes constantly. One nearby worker added to Lim that crime “is happening daily here” — and she said he got off the phone call “quickly” and was “afraid to share more.”
How are folks reacting?
Commenters on Lim’s posts were horrified and angered by yet another example of brazen street crime in the Bay Area:
“Oh god, what is happening to all of us?” one user wondered.
“Oakland and SF need to wake up,” another commenter said. “Soft on crime isn’t working.”
“Sad state of affairs in America when you have to hide your watch or bag as if you are in Venezuela,” another user declared. “The widespread use of concealed or open carry prevents this stuff; sooner or later one of these guys tries it against someone armed. Darwinism at its finest.”
“For dimwits in California who are antigun, how is it going?” another commenter asked. “Police cannot be everywhere. If he had gun we would be talking about something else.”
“STOP … reelecting the garbage politicians that created this crime wave,” another user demanded. “CA Democrats have … supermajority control of the state government. You voted for the state government that created this.”
*story by The Blaze
