No one was injured in the early Friday morning armed robbery of the Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, but four employees were held at gunpoint, and the three suspects are still at large.
Colonial Donuts is something of an Oakland mini-institution, family-owned and operated for 40 years, and with two East Bay locations, in Montclair Village and a 24-hour shop on Lakeshore Avenue. According to KGO, store manager Phing Yamamoto quit her job at Apple to keep the family business running. But early Friday morning, the 24-hour Lakeshore Avenue location suffered an armed robbery by three suspects who held the store’s four on-duty employees at gunpoint, as KRON4 reports.
3 escape after armed takeover robbery at @colonialdonuts on Lakeshore in middle of the night. @oaklandpoliceca on the case. “One word that best describe my feelings right now would be defeat,” woman whose family owns shop tells me. “I hope we can rise from this and stay strong” pic.twitter.com/CeP9JLapxs
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) June 25, 2023
As seen in the security video of the incident above, the suspects brazenly leap over the counter, and the three thieves empty the cash register with guns pointed at employees. The thieves also seem to seek out an office, presumably looking for a safe or more cash. They made off with an undisclosed sum.
Fortunately, there were no injuries.
“We’ve been in situations where we’ve been robbed,” the owner of Colonial Donuts told KRON4. “They’ll point a gun and whatnot, give them the cash and they’ll leave. For the fact that they were so aggressive and having them jump over (the counter) is number one, the most alarming thing.”
Yamamoto said in a statement to KTVU, "We are extremely disappointed and saddened by the recent robbery incident at our Lakeshore location this past Friday." The statement added, "It is a distressing time in Oakland right now, not only for small businesses, but for the community as a whole."
But that 24-hour Colonial Donuts was open again the next day. And the statement said, “We will continue to stand strong and serve Oakland with the same dedication we have give over the past four decades.”
If you have any information on this incident, you’re asked to call Crime Stoppers of Oakland at (510) 777-8572. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Image: Ed U. via Yelp
