Oakland deli burglarized, partially set on fire Friday morning
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — An Oakland deli was burglarized and partially set on fire Friday morning. This comes in the same week it was slapped with nearly $10,000 in fees due to excess litter, the deli’s owner claims were unfairly imposed by the city.
The deli’s owner, Jason Herbers, said he was at his wit’s end.
“I don’t know. At this point, should I even be surprised?” Herbers said. “We need help. I mean, we’re trying to figure it out. You know, we’re not security experts. We cook food.”
Surveillance pictures show one of two suspects rifling through Stay Gold Deli in West Oakland early Friday morning. Herbers has owned the business for seven years.
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He says the same man and woman from Friday’s incident broke in and stole a safe last month.
“This time, they broke in by cutting through the metal security gate, prying the door open,” said Herbers. “Then, they cut into the ATM, couldn’t get anything out of the ATM, stole $200 bucks out of our change box, decided to light the menu board on fire before rolling out.”
Herbers says his manager arrived at the business as the menu was in flames. He reported the incident to the Oakland Police Department, which did not immediately send officers to the scene due to the number of priority calls received in the morning.
Herbers says he has been burglarized so many times he cannot even count.
“There’s nothing left to steal,” he said. “We’ve begun taking everything home with us. We forgot the change box last night. We won’t make that mistake again.”
This comes as Herbers is pushing back against paying the nearly $10,000 in excess litter fees the city says he owes. The fee is imposed on food businesses and the program was adopted in 2006.
The city says the money is used to pay for contractors to pick-up litter along commercial corridors. Those workers collect around 400 thousand pounds of litter each year.
Herbers has not paid those fees since 2021. With interest and late fees, the total amount due has ballooned. He claims the city neglects his property where people illegally dump their trash in mass amounts on a weekly basis.
The city says it is willing to work with Herbers to reduce the charges and reached out to him after KRON4 aired his story this week.
But Herbers says the two sides have been playing phone tag and have yet to connect.
“And, it’s been days — nothing. They don’t care,” said Herbers.
Herbers has started a GoFundMe to raise money for damages, city fines and additional security expenses.
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