Teen robbed at gunpoint at Fruitvale, BART officer says writing a report is a 'waste of resources'

A man waits for a train at BART's Fruitvale station on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. A man waits for a train at BART's Fruitvale station on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Teen robbed at gunpoint at Fruitvale, BART officer says writing a report is a 'waste of resources' 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

After a teenager was robbed at gunpoint at BART's Fruitvale Station, a BART officer repeatedly discouraged him from filing a police report, a KNTV investigative report revealed Wednesday.

The news station's investigative unit obtained audio from the call to police dispatch in which an officer can be heard saying, "Why do you want this report? You guys are all getting new phones. What is the report for? At the end of the day, most of the time these guys are long gone."

The victim then explains he wants to file the report so at least there's a record of what happened. The officer repeatedly insists that because the car the suspects were in could have been stolen, it'd be too hard to track them down.

"You realize writing a report is really kind of, like, no point because like I said there's no leads to anything," she says. "Literally writing this report is kind of like thin air catching these guys, especially in Oakland.

"This report being written is really like a waste of resources."

BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas told KNTV reporter Vicky Nguyen the agency has launched an internal investigation in the officer's response to the robbery.

The teenager told KNTV the robbery happened in January when he was waiting to pick up friends in the station's parking lot. He was in town visiting from New York.

ALSO: BART intensifies crackdown on rule breakers, fare evaders

Over the past year, BART has been stepping up its efforts to prevent and solve robberies. Figures from 2018 showed crime and violent crime increasing over prior years. The biggest jump was in "electronic thefts"; 417 were reported in 2017 compared to 274 in 2016.

Regular BART riders have all heard the onboard announcements to be aware of surroundings and keep phones put away when standing near train doors, lest they be snatched.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at alix.martichoux@sfgate.com.

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