Restaurateur chased, robbed at gunpoint before flipping car over in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. - A restaurant owner was chased, rammed, robbed of his gun and shot at along Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland on Friday morning.

Breaking news videographer Angela Barron came upon the aftermath and spotted the victim dazed near his upside-down Honda Accord.

"Is anybody in there?" a witness asks.

"I am the one that was in there," the victim replies.

It all began at about 6:30 a.m. Friday. The victim was in his car parked outside his restaurant at International Plaza at 9th and International in the Little Saigon neighborhood. The strip mall has been targeted in the past by burglars.

The victim's wife, who did not want to be identified said she was "scared and frustrated" by his ordeal.

"He noticed that there's four cars driving in, so he drove off," she said.

But the cars then chased him for about a mile.

Surveillance video shows the victim's Honda being chased by a Dodge Charger, a Cadillac and a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk on Lakeshore.

One of the cars rammed him, and he ended up crashing into a light pole and flipping over right outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the pergola near Lake Merritt. But it wasn't over. He was surrounded and found himself face to face with what looked like an AK-47.

"They point a gun at him," his wife said. "They took his gun and money. It's a small handgun to protect himself."

Barron, the videographer, said, "This man was fighting for his life for like, five, 10 minutes like literally thinking, ‘I’m going to die. There's people chasing me, I'm gonna die.' "

Barron was walking her dog when she saw the chase and came across the crash. She said it reminded her of a police ramming tactic, "like they were trying to execute a pit maneuver, like the police do."

Barron says she was on hold with 911. So was the victim.

"I was on the call with 911 while they was chasing me!" the victim tells witnesses.

The four cars took off but not before firing shots.  The man was not hit by gunfire.

Oakland police arrived soon after the crash. 

The cars were last seen on Lakeshore toward 580. 

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