Woman followed home from ATM, boxed in and robbed in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. - A woman says she was followed home from an ATM in Oakland, boxed in and held up by two carloads of robbers she suspects are linked to a high-profile case that was captured on video a day earlier.
"It's the worst it's ever been. I've never felt like I had to look over my shoulder," said the woman, who only wanted to be identified as Stephanie. "It's scary," she said. "In hindsight, I absolutely know they followed me from the ATM."
Stephanie said she made a cash deposit at the Wells Fargo ATM at Lakeshore Avenue and Trestle Glen road at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday and then took the three-minute drove home.
"I noticed that a car was behind me, but that's not unusual, but when I did turn onto my street, you know, I did take note that the car was still behind me," she said.
'It gives a sickening feeling inside': Trestle Glen neighbors concerned following weekend robbery
Oakland police are investigating a robbery involving several suspects in the Trestle Glen neighborhood. Home surveillance video shows Saturday’s robbery. In it, a group of men is seen stealing a woman's purse.
She pulled into a church parking lot near her home. By then she realized there were now two cars following her.
The cars made a couple of U-turns, and she decided to drive around the block before returning to the parking lot.
"But at that point, they re-appeared, they entered the parking lot. I quickly tried to throw my car into reverse and drive around them, but they boxed me in," she said.
Four robbers got out and one of them demanded her belongings.
"We struggled over my purse a little bit," she said.
She honked her horn, and they took off with her purse.
The robbery happened a day after another woman was held up by two carloads of robbers near Grosvenor Place and Park Boulevard in the Trestle Glen neighborhood. She says the Kia Forte and Kia Sportage look like the same vehicles involved in her robbery.
And also in the Trestle Glen neighborhood, a 15-month-old girl was hit by shrapnel when her nanny was targeted by robbers, one of whom fired a shot into the ground after she, too, struggled with him.
"We're asking individuals who might be approached by someone, whether they're armed or not, to not resist," said Officer Kim Armstead, an Oakland police spokeswoman.
Stephanie said, "I don't know what the answer is, but I mean, we shouldn't be afraid to walk up the street."
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and facebook.com/henrykleefan