Four Oakland gas stations robbed in early morning hours

OAKLAND, Calif. - A string of robberies at gas stations across Oakland early Sunday morning left station clerks scrambling to clean up the damage. 

Robbers hit at least four locations across Oakland, all before 7 a.m., the Oakland Police Department confirmed to KTVU.  

A gas station on High Street, a car wash on Broadway, an Ampm gas station on Shattuck Avenue and a Shell station on Fifth Street all had damage after robbers appeared to target their ATM machines. 

Just before 5 a.m., robbers broke through the front door at the Ampm on Shattuck and stole cigarettes and cash from the register. They then attempted to break into the store's ATM. 

Video from the scene on Shattuck shows a broken front door as well as an ATM that was smashed open. 

Some gas station clerks in Oakland have grown used to the risk of robberies. A cashier we spoke to, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety, says a group of at least eight suspects broke through the front door this time. 

"It was the other cashier. They tell him, ‘Don’t do anything,’ [or] they will kill you. Then they came over to the ATM, and they tried to break the ATM with a big hammer," the man told KTVU.  

The robbers were unable to get cash out of the ATM, but the damage shows just how hard they tried. 

The suspects made off with $300 and many of the store’s cigarettes. 

The cashier says he was robbed just two weeks ago at the same gas station. 

"Two weeks ago they came with a gun," he said.

The cashier says those robbers put a gun to his head, and took his money too. Though it’s a scary scenario, he’s grateful that OPD has been responding to their 911 calls more quickly. 

He says it took less than two minutes for police to arrive on Sunday. 

"Before they would take like 10 minutes, 20 minutes," he said.