Vandals are taking over businesses once again in Oakland, this time hitting a mom-and-pop business downtown.
At least 30 people rushed in, clearing out precious inventory reserved for the holiday season. This is the second time the Prime 356 has been hit this month.
“There was about 15 cars and 30 people. Somehow they ripped open the gate and got in our store,” said co-owner Nick Hanhan.
A security camera captured a swarm of vandals grabbing hats, clothes and shoes at Prime 356 in downtown Oakland.
The alarm was blaring and about 30 seconds in, you can see someone covers the camera.
“When you take everything, all the left shoes we just have one shoe now you just ruin, ruin pairs of shoes,” said Hanhan.
The owners of the store are two high school friends who grew up in Alameda and went to college and came back to open up a business in Oakland.
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“We built this thing with our hands, literally. This is our baby just to see it violated, it's crazy,” said co-owner Devonte Pitre.
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A lot of attention is being placed on places like San Francisco, Walnut Creek and Oakland. But on Tuesday, the Alameda Police Department put out specific information to help keep small businesses safe.
Police recommend putting shatter-resistant security film on all windows, adding motion sensor cameras and taking valuable items out of public display cases. All to prevent a smash-and-grab like this.
Toy Safari has all of the new measures in place and says it cost about $5,000.
“Each time something happens we respond as well as we can,” said owner Helen Dean.
The owners of Prime 356 plan to respond. Being hit twice in a month by retail thieves cost them about $180,000.
