Oakland: Burglars hit several businesses in Temescal Alley

Shops targeted include CRO Cafe and Claflin, Thayer & Co. leather goods

Several storeowners in the Oakland’s Temescal Alley off of Telegraph and 49th Street woke up Friday morning to find shattered glass in their stores and merchandise missing.

During the early hours of the morning, burglars hopped the fence that usually secures the alley leading into the hip East Bay shopping area, then broke into several storefronts, stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise, security footage showed.

“It makes it hard to do business here and live here,” said Liz Thayer, the owner of leather goods store Claflin, Thayer & Co., one of the shops that was hit. Thayer estimates that the thief took $30,000 to $50,000 in merchandise, including several handmade leather jackets. CRO Café, a local coffee shop, was also targeted.

It’s the first time that Thayer’s store, which has operated in the neighborhood for nearly seven years, has been burglarized. But burglars have targeted the alley three times in the past year, property manager Danny Paredes told ABC7 News.

“We call the police so many times,” Paredes told the station. “The only thing they do is write notes, make a report, but nothing happens.”

Oakland Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Preliminary data from the Oakland Police Department showed that burglaries were up 23% in 2023 from the year prior.