The owner of a Northern California laundromat that has been in his family for 35 years said thieves ransacked the business this week, while also calling for more police to address an uptick in crime he believes is connected to the movement to defund law enforcement agencies.
Surveillance video captured the suspects inside Woody's Laundromat and Cafe in Oakland early Wednesday as they broke into the building. Robert Ma, one of the owners, told Fox News the doors were kicked down, windows were smashed and some cash was stolen from the register.
"We're not rich people with a boatload of money who come to America," he told Fox News. "We work hard."
Ma said business owners in the area, including him, have dealt with robberies and petty thefts over the years. It was only a matter of time before his business would be targeted once again, Ma said.
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He said local police agencies need financial support to better serves their communities, especially given an uptick in crimes against people of Asian descent.
"I'm not advocating any violence, unnecessary police brutality, but they need to do their job, but then there are not enough police," Ma told Fox News. "As soon as (talk of) the defunding started, you could see a direct correlation. You have crime escalating exponentially."
Earlier this year, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf pushed for more investments in the root causes of crime but stopped short of calling for the defunding of the city's police department. In 2021, the city experienced its deadliest year since 2006 with 133 homicides and shootings at levels not seen in years.
In July 2021, city leaders voted to maintain police spending.
Ma also raised concerns about the attacks on Asian residents, a nationwide trend that began during the pandemic.
"We do need the police to protect citizens," he said. "The crime against the Chinese community, the Vietnamese community, it's horrible."
Fox News has reached out to the Oakland Police Department.
