Aug 7, 2008 4:43 pm US/Pacific
2nd Oakland Restaurant Robbed In 24 Hours
OAKLAND (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
A restaurant in Oakland was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night, less than 24 hours after a pizza parlor was held up. Police have not confirmed if Wednesday's robbery is linked to several takeover-style robberies in the past three weeks.
According to witnesses, three armed men wearing masks and dark hooded sweatshirts came into the King of King Restaurant on East 12th Street around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. Approximately 15-20 people were inside the restaurant at the time of the robbery.
Witnesses were able to describe a getaway car to police. One person was taken into custody during a nearby traffic stop, but police did not say if the person is linked to the robbery.
Wednesday night's holdup occurred after an Oakland pizza parlor that was not serving customers was robbed Tuesday night.
Three armed men between 18 and 20 years old robbed Skyline Pizza, located at 4400 Keller Avenue, around 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said.
The suspects then fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.
Thomason did not know how many employees were present when the robbery occurred but said no customers were inside the business.
On Monday, Kerry House, a bar and restaurant located at 4092 Piedmont Avenue, was robbed at gunpoint around 1:45 a.m., Thomason said.
There were customers in the bar when it was robbed, and the suspects got away with money from both the business and at least one customer, Thomason said.
No injuries were reported in the three robberies.
At least six other, similar takeover-style robberies have been reported in Oakland in recent weeks, Thomason said.
The first robbery in the series was reported the night of July 26, two additional robberies occurred July 27, and a takeover robbery of a Mexican restaurant occurred July 28, police said.
Police were investigating whether they are all connected.
"It's way too early to determine if they're linked," Thomason said. "Are there similarities? Yeah, because there is more than one robber. But for us to speculate and say they're linked is too early."
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