Oakland church in ruins after vandals struck 12 times in two months (2024)

The pastor of an Oakland church left in ruins by relentless vandalism has accused Mayor Sheng Thao of not caring whether her congregation is driven from the crime-ridden city.

Vandals and burglars have targeted the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church twelve times since April, leaving it without water, electricity and even daylight.

Plaster has been ripped from the walls and graffiti left on those that remain, while the dwindling congregation is forced to use flashlights because every window is now broken and boarded up.

Pastor Grace Ugeh says she has repeatedly reached out to the police and the mayor's office but received no help in a city where crime increased 18 percent last year.

'It's a church, if you don't have a church, how can you pray for the city,' she told NBC. 'Our job is to pray for the city. Do they not like our presence? I don't know.'

The Pentecostal church has survived for 10 years at its current location off the city's notorious Hegenberger Road.

The area was dubbed the most dangerous square mile in America earlier this year with local shops, gas stations and restaurants hit by dozens of crimes every day.

A residents' group announced last week it had secured the 40,000 signatures needed to force the progressive mayor to face a November recall ballot less than two years after she was elected.

Retired Alameda County judge Brenda Habin-Forte who organized the petition has accused her of 'ruining the city'.

'As much as the so-called progressives' virtue signal about supporting the working-class, it's disappointing to see them not only ignore our voices, but continuously gaslight and mock us,' she said Wednesday as the total was announced.

'Well, it's time for a long-marginalized community to finally speak for ourselves, and speak loudly.'

The murder-toll in the city jumped from 78 in 2019, to 126 last year, when one resident in every 30 had their vehicle stolen.

Property crime was up 17 percent and violent crime increased by 21 percent last year while falling 8.2 percent nationwide.

A construction crew quit and refused to finish its pothole paving job in Sobrante Park last week because it got 'too dangerous' for its workers.

When resident Shari Angarano reached out to a city project manager for some answers, she was left in disbelief.

'He essentially said that the work was suspended and he couldn't tell me the time frame when they would return because the contractor halted all the work because they felt unsafe,' Angarano told DailyMail.com.

She added, 'They were not going to restart the project until the City of Oakland could guarantee a safe work environment for them.'

In April an elderly jewelry store shop owner crouched in terror behind her counter as eight heavily-built masked men forced their way in and began smashing the display boxes with sledge hammers, making off with more than 85 percent of her stock.

And residents of one Oakland neighborhood woke up this week to found that the city council had removed its traffic lights for good after they were repeatedly targeted by homeless people for their copper components.

Kaiser, PG&E, Clorox and Blue Shield announced last month that they are plowing $10 million of their own cash into added security measures including private police and 'buddy-escorts' to accompany workers who don't feel safe heading out for lunch.

All of this comes as shocking footage emerged of a long stretch of road in Oakland, that are covered in squalid makeshift tents for the homeless.

Trash was strewn around scores of houses built of wood, tarp and other discarded materials.

Michael Oxford, the host of CaliBased, posted the video on May 31, captioning it: 'Parts of Oakland are worse than a third world country. They just allow people to live in absolute squalor, wherever they choose.'

Residential robberies soared by 118 percent in the first four months of 2024 and earlier this year, there was humiliation for Oakland when In-N-Out Burger closed a store for the first time in the company's history.

The 400-outlet chain said its customers and associates were 'regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies' at the site less than half-a-mile from the Mountain of Fire church.

Pastor Ugeh said her congregation had dwindled from 100 to 25 as the relentless attacks have taken their toll.

Documents from her office were strewn about with plaster ripped from the walls after the latest break-in on Friday night.

Doors have been ripped from their frames and worshippers have been reduced to bringing their own chairs for services delivered by torchlight and amplified by a karaoke machine powered by a hired generator.

'I feel anger, I feel pain, I feel emptiness, and I don't know how to face my members, I don't know how to face a congregation,' she said. 'It hurts.'

'We came in this morning for service and they had vandalized the place more, ripped the walls.

'I don't understand what they really want, it's really heartaching.

'Members are leaving, and I don't understand, this this is supposed to be a church.'

More than $300,000 worth of damage has been done to the building but Ugeh says she is trapped.

'I would have left, but we own the building so what do I do?' she demanded. 'What do I say to my lenders?'

'The worst part is walking into a church and you're seeing this graffiti inside the church,' she added.

'Everything is ruined, they smashed everything.'