Oakland burglary victims speak out as city official promises action

OAKLAND, California – Ken Houston is upset after his office was among 16 small businesses in a single building in East Oakland that were burglarized over the weekend.

“It’s demoralizing. It’s sad to be a son of Oakland and a business owner invested in this city,” Houston said. “We are already fighting. The city is in dire need of public safety, isn’t it? I asked again and again for help. Again and again, before Denny left.

Just down the street, next to dilapidated trailers, demolition has begun on the Denny’s restaurant that closed in January because of the crime.

The Houston office building, located off busy Hegenberger Road, is an incubator for small businesses, including a barbershop.

Surveillance video shows several men entering one of the offices around 2 a.m. Saturday. The total loss and damage is at least $120,000, with high-end cameras, speakers, laptops and cash among the items taken.

“How can a small business recover from this when we’re already suffering, right? We were shut down by COVID, we didn’t make as much money, now we’re back — and that’s happening,” Houston said.

Author and businesswoman Jennifer Pahlka recently came face-to-face with a burglar in her home who was arrested days later by Oakland police after he returned to the neighborhood.

“It was frustrating that they couldn’t get back to me for about 48 hours,” Pahlka said. “Hopefully we could reduce those response times.”

Oakland City Councilman Dan Kalb said, “I completely understand their frustration.”

Kalb said it’s not always possible for police to respond to calls right away.

“Sometimes there are so many things going on at the same time that it’s hard for them to get to a certain place right away, but there are other times when they could,” Kalb said.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. Email Henry at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan