Dozens of young people reportedly mobbed an Oakland train station over the weekend, annexed one of the train cars, and robbed passengers.
Two people suffered head injures from the alleged crimes, reports SFGATE, an online news site run by the San Francisco Chronicle, citing witnesses.
The incident occurred Saturday night at Coliseum Station, one of the most convenient stops to access the Oakland Raiders’ official NFL stadium.
Witnesses claim that approximately 40 to 60 juveniles swarmed the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station and circumvented the payment process by jumping over the fare gates. After arriving to the second-story platform, the thieves manually held open the doors to the train car while other miscreants flooded in, according to SFGATE. (RELATED: Social Network Crime Scheme Turns Dates Into Armed Robbery)
The youthful perpetrators reportedly accosted the transit riders, robbing and even beating them if they did not succumb to their demands. Items said to be stolen included a duffel bag, a purse, and five phones.
“We are in the process of pulling all surveillance video and we will share with Oakland police, Oakland Unified School District and Oakland Housing Authority to see if they can help identify the minors,” Alicia Trost, a BART spokesperson told SFGATE. “We have had success with sharing images of juveniles with this group and identifying and making arrests in the past.”
Police were apparently not able to respond to the crime scene in time because the teenagers conducted the alleged crimes in such a swift fashion. (RELATED: Chicago Man With Concealed-Carry Permit Shoots, Kills Armed Robber)
The latest mass robbery is just one in a string of similar crimes on BART trains in recent weeks, though it appears none of the prior incidents were as organized as this one.
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