Vietnamese Family Tied Up, Robbed of Entire Life Savings in Oakland
By Carl Samson
A Vietnamese American family in Oakland has fallen victim to a violent robbery that wiped them of most of their life savings in under an hour.
The incident, which left a 7-year-old child with sleep troubles, occurred just before the family headed for bed around 10 p.m. on March 30.
Four masked and armed intruders allegedly broke into the Diamond District home through a back door. They tied up Roseni and her husband before ransacking every room, leaving no item untouched.
The couple’s daughter, Amy, witnessed the robbers beat her father. One of them also threatened to kill the child if her parents did not reveal where their money was.
“They cover up my daughter with a blanket,” Roseni told KTVU. “‘They say, ‘If you move and try to run away, the first person I’ll shoot will be your daughter.’”
The robbers took as much as they could, from Amy’s brother’s sneakers to bangles dangling off Roseni’s wrist. But the greatest loss was much of the family’s life savings.
“They finally got it at the last minute before they leave my house,” said Roseni. “They got what they want.”
She felt better when one of the robbers assured her that they did not intend to hurt her family. “Don’t worry, we won’t kill or rape you, we just came here for the money. You know that COVID-19 right? We have no jobs, we have no money, that’s what’s making us do this,” she recalled them as saying.
However, Roseni’s husband was still badly beaten and was bleeding. The incident also left Amy unable to sleep at night.
“They covered me with a blanket and I couldn’t breathe,” Amy told ABC7 News anchor Dion Lim. “I’m scared they’re gonna come back though, and I don’t want them to come back.”
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said investigators are now following up on leads. “We understand how traumatic that can be, especially for a young child,” he said of Amy’s experience in a press briefing Friday.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family’s medical expenses and other bills needed for their recovery. As of this writing, it has raised over $110,000 of its $30,000 goal.
Feature Images via KTVU (left; screenshot), Dion Lim (@dionlimtv) (right)
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