In-N-Out Burger has announced that it will close its lone branch in Oakland, California – the first time in its 75-year history – due to a wave of car break-ins and robberies.
According to U.S. News and World Report, the crimes in Oakland have affected both employees and customers at the Oakland branch located near Oakland International Airport. Given this, the company will close the said location on March 24.
"[Despite] repeated steps to create safer conditions, our customers and associates are regularly victimized," In-N-Out CEO Denny Warnick said in a Jan. 24 statement. "We feel the frequency and severity of the crimes being encountered by our customers and associates leave us no alternative." (Related: Nordstrom to leave downtown San Francisco after 35 years due to city’s deteriorating conditions of high violence and crime.)
U.S. News continued that the In-N-Out set to close in March attracts both travelers headed to the airport and baseball fans who attend Oakland Athletics games at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. As per the San Francisco Chronicle, police have logged 1,335 incidents in the burger joint's vicinity on Oakport Street – more than any other location in the city – since 2019.
The Chronicle continued that Oakland has seen a spike in property crime and robberies. Based on data shared by the Oakland Police Department (OPD), that number includes nine robberies, two commercial burglaries, four domestic violence incidents and 1,174 car break-ins.
In response, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said more police officers have been assigned to the area. The OPD has also installed three "eye in the sky" cameras to monitor the area, she added.
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"As mayor, I have prioritized this critical gateway to Oakland," Thao told KTVU 2. Despite this, she acknowledged that more needs to be done.
In-N-Out wasn't the only establishment forced to shut its doors due to the crime issue in California. The Chronicle recounted that a Starbucks at the Edgewater Drive Plaza closed down late last year, with placards advising motorists to protect their belongings the only remnants of its former operation. Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers meanwhile took precautions, shutting down its dining room and moving employee parking to a gated lot.
Several people recount crimes at In-N-Out's Oakland location
Several people have recounted to the Chronicle instances of robberies at the soon-to-be-closed In-N-Out branch. Sean Crawford, who works in a building around the corner from the restaurant, is one of them.
He has watched robbery crews bust doors of work vans and has heard In-N-Out customers loudly confronting burglars. In one such incident last year, Crawford saw two people get out of a car and approach the In-N-Out drive-thru lane. The two suspects went from vehicle to vehicle, robbing people at gunpoint.
Juliana Velasquez, who works at the In-N-Out location, also recounted how thieves ransacked her vehicle. "They broke the windows on both passenger sides," she told the Chronicle.
"The situation became so dire that In-N-Out staff place sandwich boards outside the business' glass doors, warning people to lock their cars and not leave any valuables inside," the outlet stated.
"Similar signs deck businesses throughout the corridor, revealing the desperation of merchants and city leaders to instill order on roadways that should form a grand carpet into Oakland. Instead, this area has earned a grim distinction as one of the nation's hot spots for stickups and smash-and-grabs."
Visit CaliforniaCollapse.news for more stories about the worsening crime situation in the Golden State.
Watch this video that discusses the impending closure of the In-N-Out branch in Oakland.
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