Aug 19, 2008 1:36 pm US/Pacific
Suspects Sought In New Oakland Restaurant Robbery
OAKLAND (CBS 5 / KCBS / BCN) ―
The latest in a string of armed robberies took place in Oakland Monday night. Police say at least two men wearing masks and hoodies robbed a restaurant in the city's upscale Rockridge district.
The robbery was at the Pasta Pomodoro on College and Lawton Avenues just before 11 p.m., as the eatery was closing. There were no customers inside, according to Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason, and police are not calling it a take-over robbery.
The robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash, said Thomason.
Last night's incident comes as Oakland has seen a string of restaurant robberies, many of them take-over style, and near Lake Merritt and in the San Antonio neighborhood.
It was not immediately clear whether the robbery was connected with others that have occurred in the city in recent weeks, Thomason said.
Marco Ditano, general manager of the restaurant, said the incident was unfortunate but that the business is moving on and has the support of the community.
Recently, Mayor Ron Dellums' administration developed a plan to combat the robberies by increasing patrols and placing undercover officers outside businesses. The Guardian Angels also started patrolling Lake Merritt neighborhoods.
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