San Leandro, California

From Oakland’s InsideTheBayArea.com of November 7, 2007

Store manager shot into house while pursuing thief
Homeowner fears for safety after discovering bullet holes made by .357 Magnum

A Hollywood Video store manager who fired his .357 Magnum revolver at an escaping thief Sunday night thought he hit the thief's getaway vehicle, but instead hit the front door of a house on Toler Avenue.

The homeowner, who asked not to be identified, said he noticed a bullet hole in his door Monday morning when he was getting the newspaper.

"It's a very unsettling thing," the homeowner said. "I don't think anybody should be firing a gun in a residential neighborhood. He could have killed me or my fiancee. I'm pretty upset about it."

Late Sunday night, a man wearing a hockey mask robbed the Hollywood Video store at 300 Davis St. The masked man zip-tied an employee and forced the store manager at gunpoint to empty the contents of the store safe and cash registers into a white plastic bag. When the thief fled the store with about $700 in cash and change, the store manager, armed with a handgun, chased after him.

The thief was getting into his car on a dark street a few blocks from the store when the store manager yelled at him to stop.

According to the manager, the thief then turned and faced him, still wearing the hockey mask and with the gun in his hand.

"He turned around and drew on me," the manager said. "I could see his gun clearly because of the dome light from his vehicle."

The manager said he fired his gun and then ducked behind a parked car. The thief then jumped in his car and drove off.

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