A Florida family has canceled plans to send their son to college in California after their car was stolen while they were dropping him off at his dorm on Saturday, causing thousands of dollars in damages in lost belongings and important personal documents.
Romell Crossman had just graduated from high school in Florida and was set to attend Lincoln University in downtown Oakland this fall, but after the family was robbed, they told KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco they were cancelling his enrollment.
“In Oakland, California, you just have to be careful,” Crossman’s mother, Nerissa Murray Watson, told the outlet. “Everything’s just gone.”
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Romell Crossman is pictured with his mother, Nerissa Murray Watson. When I graduated from high school. (KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco)
Crossman’s family flew into Oakland on Saturday and rented a car through Thrifty, his mother said. After registering their son, the family parked the car at the corner of 15th and Franklin streets, a block from Lincoln University, and ate at a nearby Jamaican restaurant.
When they returned 15 minutes later, they found the windows of their rented white Nissan Rogue had been smashed and five suitcases had been stolen.
Among the items, Watson said, was “$3,000 in a bag that her husband had placed under the seat, along with three passports, a Social Security card and their son’s high school diploma and birth certificate.”
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Nerissa Murray Watson said she had taken her son to Lincoln University to register on Saturday when the windows of the family’s car were smashed and five suitcases containing valuables and personal documents were stolen. (KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco)
The family also lost a sleep apnea machine that they said they left in the car, according to KTVU.
According to the San Francisco Standard, “bipping” is slang derived from police slang for “robbery in progress,” which refers to robbing an unoccupied car. Thieves typically use a “bipping hammer,” a small, easily concealed tool that allows them to easily and silently smash a car window without using much force.
Witnesses told the family they saw masked men driving a car without license plates in broad daylight, KTVU reported.
“It’s really strange because I had no idea this was happening in America,” the Florida mother said.
“For me it is lawless because I called the police station three times and they said they can’t come,” she said, telling media that her family was told to file a complaint at the police station.
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Following the incident, Crossman’s parents announced they would not be sending their son to Lincoln University in California (pictured).
“I have to take my son to Florida because it’s not safe here,” Watson told KTVU.
KTVU and Fox News Digital had not received a response from Lincoln University as of press time. The University of California, Berkeley told California media it was warning students not to leave belongings in their cars and educating them about safety measures during orientation.
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The city of Oakland has recently reported declining crime rates, with violent crime rates down 30% from 2023 and property crime rates down 60%, KTVU reported.
