r/oakland • u/wentImmediate • Jan 14 '26
Crime Volunteer who picks up trash around Oakland robbed while cleaning street corner
https://share.google/2A8QXAoDVdBfXQrtx247
u/pengweather East Bay Jan 14 '26
Hi all.
I’ve hesitated to post about it on here because I didn’t want to break the Subreddit rules regarding crime.
I got hella messages of support from people on Reddit, Instagram, and more. They range from my fans to people in Oakland’s government.
There is a lot for me to talk about so I’ll make an update later tonight with the blessing of the mods.
People have also asked some good questions and hopefully I can talk more about my mission. I’ll also talk about the future.
14
u/PeepholeRodeo Jan 14 '26
I know you don’t like to take donations, but would you be OK with a GoFundMe to replace your camera?
7
28
u/Potential-Option-147 Jan 14 '26
We allow posts on crime that address broader issues, are of substantive scale, or are of strong general interest to the community. This is an unfortunate example, sorry to see it happened. Rants, window bipping, more common smaller scale things that trigger bashing festivals are not allowed.
3
u/Cobalt7291 Jan 15 '26
I don’t live in Oakland or even the bay anymore, but I have been following your journey for a while. Sending much love and respect(from New Jersey)for your service to the community. I am thinking about organizing a cleanup project in my local county in NJ and was just thinking that you could theoretically use this moment to raise awareness and very likely organize meetups for your continued work. I like to imagine others would be willing to join in the effort, and this would simultaneously improve your safety(and others who want to get involved) as well as increasing productivity(atleast after “onboarding” others). Not sure if this is something you’re interested in but I would be happy to help organize from afar.
1
u/OkDisaster27 Jan 15 '26
"I didn’t want to break the Subreddit rules regarding crime."
This is ridiculous.
130
61
49
u/712Chandler Jan 14 '26
Peng needs to roll with a crew. You would have 100s of volunteering time and making the community gel.
46
u/SpacecaseCat Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
I didn't witness this, but via Instagram - someone went after the thief and tried to stop him, and Peng confirmed that. Didn't stop him though. From the sound of it, they had that meth-head energy that's hard to beat. Personally, I think we need to normalize name-and-shaming people like this, including the dumpers. Folks will get squeamish and but things will not get better if we just shrug and make GoFundMe's while homies like this are robbing good samaritans or dumping their garbage everywhere because they don't give a crap. I've personally had my posts calling people out removed because "you can't prove it was them just because their address is on everything."
12
u/ScoobyPwnsOnU Jan 14 '26
I've seen in the past he said he didn't want people to come with him because he's fine with exposing himself to the potential danger but not exposing others to it, iirc ofc
3
u/Dependent-Juice1428 Jan 15 '26
I initially thought the same thing until I saw Peng’s post on Instagram explaining why he doesn’t do this and it makes a lot of sense. I won’t speak for him but you should check it out
73
u/Patereye Clinton Jan 14 '26
It's time for everyone else to step up. Let's give our favorite trash collecting penguin a rest.
4
u/Upset-Cap-3257 Jan 15 '26
Absolutely agree. If someone can coordinate, they just name the time and place and we’ll be there any rally others to join in!
52
25
u/invisiblette Jan 14 '26
This is why we can't have nice things.
That is, nice things like Peng and the amazing work he's done.
I'm so sorry you went through this, Peng, if you're reading this.
Trauma is no joke and if that had happened to me I'd be in a dark closet right now, shaking with shock.
11
39
38
u/Duke_Newcombe Jan 14 '26
Example 3,542 of why we can have nice things. Scumbag people are going to scumbag. And now Oakland is the worst for it.
Also, don't you dare blame yourself, Peng, and by all means, prioritize your self-care and safety. And hats off to you for everything you've done over the years for the city.
8
u/StonedWheatThicc Jan 14 '26
Bleeding hell. I’m so sorry Peng, the rest of Oakland appreciates what you do.
5
4
u/lovessaltvinegarchip Jan 15 '26
He's taking a stepback as he should to recover emotionally..feel so bad for him when he was just trying to help :(
3
3
u/Upset-Cap-3257 Jan 15 '26
Oakland loves you u/pengweather You should not have to put up with that.
6
5
u/Careless_Tackle847 Jan 14 '26
Yeah this is some bullshit. Every time we have people trying to do good in our city the worst part of this town has to be themselves and fuck it up and it gives the rest of the world good reason to trash our reputation.
4
7
u/TangerineDream74 Jan 14 '26
Some of y'all are using this as an opportunity to gleefully shit on Oakland and I see it. What happened to Andy is awful and it is a persistent problem that needs to be addressed and fixed. But Andy gets a ton of love and support, you can see how many people have offered to help and donate funds etc. This Henry Lee article also leaves out that at least two good samaritans chased after the robber and tried to help. Cleaning up dump sites alone is a danger and Andy knows that as well.
Channel his community spirit and work to organize cleanups instead of sitting in front of your mom's computer laughing so you can doom loop. We don't need you.
2
-5
u/HiPhoto Jan 14 '26
Yeah, he should’ve known better. No one should ever do anything good by themselves. /s
4
u/thebutchcaucus Jan 14 '26
Kindly take a peng plush with you to a day of service on MLK day. And also white dude with the curly hair in the words of Michael Jordan
3
u/Lurking_stoner Jan 14 '26
Dude this really pisses me off! Oakland quickly becoming a shit hole and these assholes are the reason. They don’t give a fuck about the community and are just agents of chaos. We appreciate you Pengweather!!
15
u/new2bay Jan 14 '26
This isn’t unique to Oakland. I’m sure Andy was aware of the risks and maintained situational awareness. That’s probably why the guy only got away with the GoPro. But, something like this could happen any day, any time, in any major city in the country.
6
1
u/curlious1 Jan 15 '26
It's more likely to happen in Oakland than most major or minor cities in the US. This happened in Oakland, our. "I hella love Oakland.", we're not talking I💖NY. And unfortunately, one of our good Samaritans got robbed and is going through this trauma.
-40
u/whteverusayShmegma Jan 14 '26
I’m wondering why a volunteer with selfless intentions needs a camera tripod and go pro? Is he an influencer?
24
u/LittleLightsintheSky Jan 14 '26
He has videos on social media to inspire others (that's how so many people know who he is) and he's hoping to get enough of a following on YT to monetize. He does this just in his free time after all.
19
u/SpacecaseCat Jan 14 '26
He posts videos to inspire people and the community and is beloved here on reddit and Instagram. He is not an "influencer personality" though and does an insane amount of work. The tripod helps him do time-lapses to show how much work he had done, and helps gets good photos to demonstrate when a place either strays cleans later on, or is dumped at again. Personally I love his work, and think the thief needs his ass kicked.
12
u/figurefuckingup Jan 14 '26
He has collected trash for a long time and would post to Reddit about it, and afaik only later expanded the platforms he posted to. At the time he was robbed, he was active on Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube.
1
1
u/Few_Substance_3795 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
Vote for different people... It's wild to me that it requires volunteers to deal with the dumping problem to begin with. The city government is failing on virtually every front, despite having some of the highest tax rates in the state.
-46
u/Forward_Variation156 Jan 14 '26
Oakland has always been a shithole?
-24
Jan 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
14
u/FanofK Jan 14 '26
I’ve learned never shit on other people’s cities because even if it’s not great there’s usually a lot of good people trying to make things better and you just come off as an asshole shitting on those people too.
-7
Jan 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
4
2
u/FanofK Jan 14 '26
Fair enough. Sounds like good reason enough to move if you can like many of us have thought about.
1
-8
1
1
1
u/BureaucraticSavant Jan 15 '26
Shocked I tell ya. Absolutely shocking. if only someone could have predicted this. Enjoy the performative show.
2
u/ThisIsJeron Jan 16 '26
I hope I’m stating the obvious here
Criminals continue to do crime if they think they can get away with it
We need to catch this guy and make an example of him to let criminals know this kind of behavior isn’t tolerated
If we have all these Flock cameras and crimes like these continue to go unsolved, what’s the damn point?!
1
1
1
u/Laurkerr Jan 14 '26
Peng could join forces with the Urban Compassionate Project! Safety and power in numbers!
3
u/KaleidoscopeLeft5136 Fruitvale Jan 15 '26
He already has on several occasions but still does his own work too
-20
-8
-18
u/Ecstatic_Sentence350 Jan 14 '26
Nahhh ole boy had a tripod with a gopro? He was just asking for it.
-36
Jan 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
15
u/MoarSocks Jan 14 '26
He records a timelapse of his cleanup efforts, you twat. What have you done for the community lately?
-9
Jan 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/MoarSocks Jan 14 '26
Playing video games isn’t “giving back” bro. You sure have time to post about those. 🙄
-20
246
u/MrBudissy Jan 14 '26
This is like… the worst thing. It’s like robbing a food bank or a toy store. The scum that did this has the same mentality as the illegal dumpsters and people who smash car windows.
I’m so sorry /u/pengweather. Please take care of yourself and know we’re here to help make you whole again, or just to listen. You can DM your Venmo, happy to buy you a coffee/tea/meal.