A Night of East Bay Looting

With 3 scanners going last night, one could barely keep up with all activity.  Sometime in the 6 o'clock hour, while Fremont officers were en route to Oakland in what is becoming a nightly mutual aid run, things were heating up in San Leandro.  At the Bay Fair Shopping Center, a small group of officers were overwhelmed by a large group of people and vehicles.  They retreated and called for assistance.  Fremont officers were turned around and responded.  Minutes later, after officers had formed up and marched towards the group in an effort to clear the parking lot, loud booms could be heard through radio transmissions as rounds of tear gas were dispensed.  Meanwhile Hayward had its own problems.  At one point a sergeant took a dose of pepper spray in the downtown area and called for help.  Southland Mall was being looted.  Stores in the downtown area were vandalized.  The action in San Leandro later moved to the Marina Square Shopping Center where cars were stolen from dealerships, not to mention looting.  Later in the evening the mayhem moved south into Newark.  Large groups circled the Newpark Mall and NPD asked for assistance from Fremont.  A high profile of police cars circled the area.  The damage to the mall is unknown but did not seem nearly as bad as malls to the north.  While this was going on, FPD closed off access to Pacific Commons and this seemed to prevent any looting or vandalism.  In the meantime, the owner of the gun store on Grimmer near Bay Street was reported to be holding a suspect of some sort at gun point.  Officers arrived in short order and detained the man.  It is not known if he was attempting to break into the store or not, but a gun store in Hayward was broken into with numerous weapons and ammo stolen.  Police dispatchers up and down the East Bay were broadcasting suspect vehicle info on this crime as this is a serious "officer safety" issue if they encounter this vehicle.  Fremont had some sporadic crime events, the best I could tell.  An armed hold up at the 7-Eleven on Central.  A possible burglary at a pharmacy on Mowry.  Something going on at the Walgreens on Decoto.  As if this isn't enough, someone lights off some serious fireworks on Paseo near Decoto shaking up an already nervous neighborhood.  The good news is that these were mostly property crimes, perhaps a "crime of opportunity" as police like to say.  There didn't seem to be an effort to confront the police or harm individuals.  One officer even commented that they are hitting the shoe stores...goods later to be sold on Ebay or a flea market.  Let's hope for a calmer night tonight.  The cops need a break and my scanners are overheating.