Well-dressed vandals hit Oakland stores

OAKLAND, Calif. — The owners of two West Oakland liquor stores said they suffered at least $30,000 in damage when pipe-wielding men wearing suits and bow ties rampaged through the businesses, smashing the glass doors of coolers and hundreds of bottles of liquor.

Police said Friday they are investigating the possibility that the vandals were followers of the Nation of Islam, due to their attire and remarks attributed to them during the rampage. Oakland's Black Muslim leaders have rejected that possibility, said police Lt. Rick Golphin.

"They asked us if we were Muslim," said Kaled Saleh, who was working at San Pablo Market and Liquor along with two other employees when about a dozen men entered about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"When we said 'yes,' one of them said that good Muslims shouldn't be poisoning the community with alcohol, or something like that."

Several minutes later, the same group is believed to have descended on a second store, the New York Market, attacking it in similar fashion.

Owners of the two stores each said they believed their losses totaled about $15,000.

Police are reviewing footage taken from a surveillance camera inside the San Pablo store showing pipe-wielding men rampaging through the business.

The video shows African-American men wearing suits and bow ties, attire commonly associated with the Nation of Islam, the 75-year-old organization advocating black empowerment.

The Nation forbids its followers from using alcohol.

"The original information we got was that the suspects were from the Nation of Islam," Golphin said. "But we have been unable to verify that. The Nation of Islam is denying involvement."

Saleh said his father, Abdul, has owned the San Pablo store for 20 years and has never encountered hostility from Black Muslims or others.