Video: 8 armed thugs smash Oakland jewelry store's display cases, steal nearly all items in brazen, devastating daytime heist



Eight armed individuals were caught on surveillance video smashing the display cases of an Oakland jewelry store this week and making off with almost all of the family-owned business' inventory in a brutal, devastating heist that took place in broad daylight.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

KGO-TV called the crime in the city's Chinatown neighborhood "one of the most brazen, armed daytime robberies we've ever seen."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What are the details?

Surveillance video shows 69-year-old mother Diane ducking for cover and screaming for help as the robbers — wearing black masks and clothing and armed with guns and hammers — enter Phuong Jewelry around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, KGO said.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The crooks ended up smashing nearly all the display cases and ransacking the business, the station said.

With no security guard on duty, KGO said Diane's 76-year-old husband is seen on the clip coming out from the back of the store armed with a gun of his own, which apparently convinced the crooks to leave.

"If he hadn't done that, they would have kept going," their son Tony Trinh told the station, adding that the crooks stole an estimated 85-90% of the store's inventory.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"My mom was devastated, and my dad was broken," Trinh told KGO.

The station said the robbery was by far the worst Phuong Jewelry has suffered in more than 40 years of operation.

"We've been robbed a few times before but not at this level of brazen magnitude," Trinh explained to KGO. "Eight individuals and two getaway cars and guns drawn. I thought, 'Did my mother get shot? Did my father get shot? Did any of our staff or community members?'"

Bad news keeps coming

Due to the rising cost of premiums, the family let the store's business insurance lapse, the station said.

"It's rough," Trinh told KGO. "My mom is the leader of the pack. When she suffers, I suffer; the same thing from her."

Will Phuong Jewelry stay in business? Trinh replied to the station that "we would love to, but with the environment and how tough it's been, we don't know yet."

KGO reported that Diane indicated she would be back to work on Friday.

The Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council has started a GoFundMe to help the family business recoup its losses, the station said, adding that Oakland police said the investigation is ongoing, and they want those with information to come forward.

8 armed suspects clear out Oakland Chinatown jewelry store - EXCLUSIVE youtu.be

More of the same in Oakland

Oakland has made more than a few headlines for, among other things, its rampant crime. Some examples:

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At least 4 dead in NYC e-bike repair shop blaze; FDNY recently cited location for multiple violations



At least four people have died and more were critically injured in a fire that started at an e-bike repair shop in lower Manhattan Tuesday night, KUSA and other outlets reported.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at 80 Madison Street around 12:15 a.m., the FDNY tweeted around 3:40 a.m. At the time, the FDNY reported there were seven injuries, six of which were critical. A firefighter also sustained minor injuries.

A 71-year-old man was among the deceased victims, according to the New York Times.

"It is very clear that this was caused by lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes. There was a very large number of both batteries and e-bikes," said FDNY Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh in a press conference Tuesday morning.

"This location is known to the Fire Department. We have written violations at this location before, and we have conducted enforcement at this location before."

Commissioner Kavanaugh emphasized how "incredibly dangerous" it is to have housing above ground-level e-bike shops.

"The volume of fire created by these lithium-ion batteries is incredibly deadly."

Firefighters quickly gained entrance to the building and pulled many victims out, enabling first responders to treat them right away.

The sheer volume of these sorts of fires can "make it nearly impossible to get out in time," Kavanaugh said. She described the types of blazes created by the batteries as more of an explosion than a smoldering fire.

"It can often be too late as soon as the fire has begun," she said.

Chief Fire Marshal Dan Flynn said the shop had been inspected in August, the FDNY had issued summonses, and that the defendants were found guilty in court and given a $1,600 fine.

The summonses were related to the charging of the batteries, the number of the batteries at the location, and the electrical wiring required to charge them, Chief Fire Marshal Flynn also said. Summonses were also issued in 2021.

Commissioner Kavanaugh said a total of 108 fires and 13 fatalities related to lithium-ion batteries have been logged so far this year, which is "significantly higher" than last year.

A child and a teen died in an e-bike fire in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in April, as TheBlaze reported.

The American Red Cross Greater New York Region provided emergency housing for 23 adults and two children who were among at least eight households impacted by the Madison Street fire. The relief agency is also providing three families with financial assistance.

Fire Commissioner Kavanaugh asks citizens who see unsafe conditions related to e-bikes to call 311 to help the FDNY in its enforcement and education efforts.

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7-months-pregnant store owner chases shoplifting thug. He throws bottle he took at her — just missing her belly — and runs off, calling her 'Chinese b***h.'



Surveillance video shows a 7-months-pregnant store owner in Oakland's Chinatown chasing out a male shoplifter, who then threw at her a large bottle of hand sanitizer he had taken — just missing her belly — and ran off while calling her a "Chinese b***h," KGO-TV reported.

What are the details?

Eva Liu and her husband own Yuda International Logistics, which specializes in shipping and receiving items to and from Asia, the station said.

On the afternoon of April 25, surveillance video shows a man quickly entering the store and moving toward a stack of customer packages, KGO said.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"This person came in, and he was trying to grab those packages," Liu told the station through a translator.

She can be heard yelling "sorry, sorry, sorry" to try to get the intruder to stop; she then grabbed an air horn from her desk, stood up, and moved toward the intruder, KGO said.

"I couldn't afford to be afraid because I wanted to protect those packages for the customers," Liu added to the station.

Video shows the shoplifter grabbing a large bottle of hand sanitizer from a shelf near the door while exiting the shop.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

When Liu gets to the doorway, the crook hurls the bottle at her.

"I was trying to protect my stomach, so I turned, and it hit my ribs," she told KGO.

Liu added to the station that the man called her a "Chinese b***h" as he was running off — and that she didn't know the term's meaning until it was translated for her days after the incident.

She also sounded the air horn, and KGO said its noise scared away the intruder and also got the attention of a nearby volunteer security team — the Blue Angels.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

The group flagged down Oakland Police, and the station said police arrived in less than two minutes, but the suspect has not yet been arrested.

The air horn factor

The station said thousands of air horns like the one Liu used were distributed in Chinatown and beyond in February 2021.

Carl Chan, president of the Chinatown Chamber, told KGO the community was skeptical at first: "In the beginning, people were questioning why should I carry air horns? With a few incidents happening, like the one here, it's helping small businesses."

Chan added to the station that proper instruction on how to use air horns has paid off in a time when violent attacks against Asians show no sign of abating.

"When it sounded, many neighbors" even a few blocks away "could hear it and knew trouble was happening," Liu told KGO.

Image source: Twitter

Still she noted to the station that she'd like to "see more police officers" in Chinatown, "especially officers that speak the language."

'Give me your f***ing purse!': One day after Christmas, an elderly married couple is assaulted, robbed at gunpoint on busy street in broad daylight



On the day after Christmas, a married couple in their seventies was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint on a busy street in broad daylight in the Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, California — and it was all caught on video.

What are the details?

KGO-TV reported that the couple had just left a friend's jewelry shop on Franklin Street when a man drew a gun.

"Give me your f***ing purse!" the armed man hollered, according to station anchor Dion Lim, who later spoke to the husband.

While trying to back away from the armed attacker, the man and woman both fell to the ground, and the armed attacker pulled the woman's purse from her and ran off to a getaway car.

\u2026a man approaches, pulls a gun. \n\nMr. H said the man \u201csaid give me your f**king purse!\u201d then pushed Mrs. H to the ground took her purse & ran off. They\u2019re physically OK. \n\nThe guy almost got hit by a car while escaping & ran to a nearby getaway vehicle. (2/3) #StopAAPIHatepic.twitter.com/CJDsQfXpTd
— Dion Lim (@Dion Lim) 1641100500

The couple is physically OK, Lim reported on Twitter.

'More police presence'

Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, told KGO that crime was down in the neighborhood before the holidays, but he will lobby for more law enforcement protection: "Not only are we needing more police presence in the community, we need to install additional cameras and license plate readers because it has proven successful in many cities."

'Broken society'

The male victim in the attack told the station that Oakland feels like "a broken society" in the wake of COVID and that he and his wife sustained some bruises but "fortunately ... have no broken bones or anything serious. Mentally we are really scared."

The male victim added to the station that he doesn't believe defunding the police is a good idea and is grateful his four children are nearby and can deliver groceries and help with errands.

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