Mob ravages California mini-mart during flash robbery near airport, shocking video shows

Dozens of people ransacked a gas station mini-mart near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California, early Friday morning, leaving the store destroyed. 

Shocking surveillance video shows suspects in a flash mob tearing apart the store as they rifled through the refrigerated section and shelves, smashed items and filled shopping baskets full of loot. 

Sam Mardaie, the owner of the 76 Gas Station & Mini Market on Hegenberger Road, told FOX 2 the thieves caused an estimated $100,000 in damage at the store and that they threatened two employees working at the time. 

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"This is the hardest thing you could ever go through … especially if you've been put in sweat and tears day in and day out," Mardaie told FOX 2. 

He also told the news station it took "nine hours" for police to respond after the crime was first classified as priority two, meaning there were no suspects at the location. 

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Oakland Police told FOX 2 officers responded within 90 minutes of the 4 a.m. burglary after viewing the surveillance video. Fox News Digital has reached out to police for comment.  

"They got away with it. They were here for 40 minutes. You could tear a whole city down in 40 minutes," Mardaie told KNTV-TV. "Every time I think about it, the more it hurts."

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Mardaie estimated there were about 70 suspects linked to a nearby illegal sideshow gathering who broke into the store while the mini-mart was doing window-only business. 

Jon Landau, Oscar-winning producer of 'Titanic,' 'Avatar,' dead at 63

Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer of "Titanic," "Avatar" and its sequel "The Way of Water," has died. He was 63 years old. 

Landau's death was confirmed by Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, who called him a "visionary."

"Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some of the most unforgettable stories to life on the big screen," Bergman said of Landau. His remarkable contributions to the film industry have left an indelible mark, and he will be profoundly missed. He was an iconic and successful producer yet an even better person and a true force of nature who inspired all around him." 

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Landau started his career in Hollywood in the 1980s, first working as a production manager, then as a co-producer on classics like 1989's "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and 1990's "Dick Tracy."

He eventually became a close collaborator with "Titanic" and "Avatar" director James Cameron, joining his Lightstorm Entertainment production company as an executive. 

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"I can’t act and I can’t compose and I can’t do visual effects, so I guess that’s why I’m producing," Landau joked alongside Cameron during their acceptance speech when "Titanic" won best picture in 1998. 

During "The Way of Water"'s post production in 2022, Landau told The Associated Press that despite the ways in which people consume movies changing, the reason we watch is the same. 

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"One of the things that has not changed is: Why do people turn to entertainment today? Just like they did when the first ‘Avatar’ was released, they do it to escape, to escape the world in which we live," he said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.