Oakland restaurant owner robbed at gunpoint outside eatery, video shows

OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland restaurant owner was robbed right outside his business in the Dimond District.

The owner of La Perla Puerto Rican Cuisine told KTVU he was talking to two friends outside his restaurant near Fruitvale Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard when three armed robbers walked up at about 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Surveillance video captured the incident and shows the victims chatting in a parking lot when the suspects appear wearing dark-colored clothing and their guns drawn.

The owner, Gabriel Ortiz said the robbers made off with his friend's cash, his gold necklace, and a gun.

"I was getting ready to pull my own firearm, and this guy was right behind me. So there was already a tussle, with him knowing that I had a gun. He was like, ‘Get his gun!’ So that was a game-changer," Ortiz said.

"It’s frustrating to deal with all this crime, that it comes to your back door, literally," he said.

"I'm a family man. It's not easy, especially during this pandemic, to make an earning. Work for it. Hustle. Why are you over here having to take things that people work hard for?" Ortiz said.

His father, Jose Ortiz, who co-owns the restaurant, said, "The safety of the citizens of Oakland..right now is none."

He had a message for the robbers.

"There's still time to turn your life around. There's a better way to earn the living than playing with your life. There's only two things that are going to be waiting for them: Jail or down on the ground," he said.

The Oakland Police Department is investigating the case.