OAKLAND — A retired Alameda County judge was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday after using an ATM in downtown Oakland, authorities said.
The robbery happened about 5:05 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of Franklin Street. Authorities said she had just used an ATM at a U.S. Bank branch and was walking to her car when a man with a gun confronted her and took her bag, which contained her phone, wallet and cash.
The robber fled in a waiting vehicle, which was last seen going northbound on Franklin Street at 20th Street.
Police believe the same suspects were involved in another armed robbery of a man who had just made a deposit at a bank in the 2000 block of Franklin Street at about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. The man was confronted in the bank’s rear parking lot on Webster Street and had his phone, wallet and other personal items taken, police said
Recently, Oakland police have warned about an “uptick” in robberies at ATMs throughout the city. Two such robberies happened Monday evening, one outside a Montclair bank and the other on Lakeshore Avenue near Trestle Glen.
Although retired, the judge is still assigned to an Oakland courtroom, according to the county’s current judicial roster. She is the second judge robbed in downtown Oakland this month. On June 1, three masked gunmen robbed a judge of his Rolex, wallet and iPhone inside the Alco Park garage near 13th and Madison streets, mere blocks from the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse.
The bank parking lot where the man was robbed is the same one where Jen Angel, a beloved baker, activist and longtime zine publisher had her purse snatched Feb. 6. She was apparently caught in the door of a vehicle the suspects were fleeing in while trying to retrieve her property and suffered fatal injuries when she was dragged some 50 feet.
Angel died Feb. 9. A 19-year-old San Francisco man has been arrested and charged in the death and a second suspect is still being sought.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the robbers involved in the Wednesday cases. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
Source: www.mercurynews.com