Mother offers $10K reward after son robbed at Oakland gas station near airport

OAKLAND, Calif. - A Texas mother is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a group of armed robbers who held up her son and his friends near the Oakland airport.

Maxey Scherr, who is an attorney, made the request on her law firm's Facebook page. 

Surveillance video she posted shows several masked people, including one armed with a gun, on Monday at the 76 Gas Station at 449 Hegenberger Road.

Her son and four friends were heading to the airport from Napa.

They stopped at the gas station to fill up their rental car.

One of the robbers pistol-whipped Scherr's son, she said, and took bracelets, a watch, wallets, cellphones and luggage.

Scherr said her main objective is to hold the robbers accountable and speak up about crime against tourists in the area.

Hegenberger Road, the main road to the airport, has been a magnet for criminals, police data show, as thieves have been targeting tourists filling up with gas on their way to or from the airport.

In-N-Out and Denny's restaurants, both in that area, announced this month that they are closing because of car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies to their customers.  

In a previous statement, Mayor Sheng Thao said that she has "prioritized this critical gateway to Oakland," by adding police and cameras to the Hegenberger corridor.

Specifically, two officers were assigned to patrol along Hegenberger Road and 90th Avenue. Both officers were tasked with focusing on shopping center and gas station security. In addition, Oakland police have three cameras placed to monitor activity in this area. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that since 2019, police have logged 1,335 incidents near In-N-Out on 8300 Oakport Street — more than any other location in Oakland. 

That number includes nine robberies, two commercial burglaries, four domestic violence incidents and 1,174 car break-ins, according to Oakland police data.