An attorney from Texas is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the men who robbed her son while he was celebrating his birthday in California over the weekend.
Maxey Scherr, who runs Scherr Law Firm in El Paso, Texas, told the San Francisco Chronicle this week that the incident "puts a very bad light on Oakland."
Scherr’s son took a trip through the Napa and Sonoma areas of California this past weekend with his friends for his 21st birthday. As Scherr described the events, her son and his friends stopped to refill gas on their rental car while returning to Oakland International Airport for their trip home when the robbery happened.
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Video of the event captured by a local shows a dark gray sedan pulling up to the gas pump behind the one her son was using.
Several men – who the attorney noted wore ski masks – approached the son’s car and began transferring its contents into their vehicle. As her son got out of the rental Ford Explorer to assess the commotion, a man with a gun approached him and allegedly struck him in the head before taking his phone and wallet from out of his pockets.
Another robber took a wallet from one of his friends and took all their luggage. The attorney clarified to the outlet that none of the young men were injured.
She relayed how the group sought the gas station attendant’s help, though he advised them to leave quickly, claiming that otherwise the robbers would return and shoot them if they found their victims still in the area.
Her son then tried to call the police to the scene, but he was told that their response would "take time." The men went to the police station to file the report there.
Scherr then detailed how when the men returned the car to Thrifty Car Rental, an employee revealed to them that usually at least one of their vehicles is returned after having been broken into or damaged in a robbery.
"It’s pretty disgusting if it’s true that this happens with Thrifty vehicles once a day," Scherr told The Chronicle over the phone, adding, "I feel like this just can’t be. This shouldn’t be the way of life out there. We shouldn’t just accept that that’s just how it should be."
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The attorney shared footage of the robbery on Scherr Law Firm’s Instagram page this week, with a reward offer. A caption added to the clip stated, "$10,000 Reward. For tips that lead to the arrest of the five men who robbed my son and his four friends at gunpoint yesterday, 1/29/2024 at the 76 Gas Station by the Oakland Airport. Same reward for proof that the criminals co-conspired with the 76 Gas Station employee(s)."
The area near Oakland International Airport is reportedly rife with crime. Just this week a liquor store was burglarized when robbers drove a truck through store doors and then proceeded to rush in to steal liquor, cigarettes, two cash registers and a safe.
In the Bay Area, businesses – like San Francisco’s oldest toy store, Jeffrey’s Toys – have been forced to close in part due to rising crime.
Additionally, some residents have had enough of the crime in the area and are leaving. An 87-year-old man made news this week after announcing he was moving back to China after being assaulted in San Francisco multiple times in the past several years.