Burglars ram gas station in Oakland's Rockridge to steal safe

OAKLAND, Calif. - Surveillance video shows burglars repeatedly backing a Lexus SUV into a Shell gas station in Oakland's Rockridge District before dawn Friday.

Another gas station rammed

What we know:

Several men are seen walking inside and carry out a safe containing an undisclosed amount of cash.

"They rammed the store five times, knocked the whole frame," said a frustrated district manager Deep Singh.

Singh said the gas station at Broadway and Taft sits in a relatively quiet neighborhood. The station's been hit before by thieves, but never like this.

"Usually they smash the front door, and then they take the ATM, but this time they were really completely well-organized, and it's really shameful," he said.

Singh said the clerk on duty thought at first the collision was an accident. That changed when he realized they were doing it on purpose, over and over.

"Then he got, tried to save his life, hiding back there or something," Singh said.

Other gas stations rammed in Oakland

The backstory:

The incident bears similarities to car-ramming burglaries at several Chevron stations in Oakland earlier this month.

At the Shell station, crews kept busy for much of the day, cleaning up the mess and extensive damage, which left the pumps inoperable. 

Singh says Oakland police came to take a report, but he wishes more could be done to prevent crimes like this in the first place.

"They have to do something to protect the businesses and society," Singh said.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan