BART addresses robbery incident, hires police chief

A group of teenagers on April 22 jumped Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) fare gates and robbed seven passengers at the Coliseum Station in Oakland, Calif.

No weapons were reported, BART officials said in a statement.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that as many as 40 to 60 juveniles streamed into the station and took over at least one train car.

"The rapid nature of these crimes maximized the efficiency of the robberies, and allowed them to take place within the few short minutes between the 911 call and police arriving," BART officials said.

After the incident, BART created additional overtime shifts for police officers patrolling stations. The agency also has pulled video from both the train cars and station cameras.

BART investigators will distribute the footage to local law enforcement agencies and school districts in an effort to identify the teens involved in the incident.

Overall, crime on the BART system has been on the decline, agency officials said.

"We want to stress that this robbery is neither reflective of the safety of our system nor of public transportation generally," they added.

Meanwhile, BART announced April 21 it has hired Carlos Rojas as chief of police.

Rojas has 27 years of experience and leadership in community policing. He is an advocate and educator in "community-oriented policing" practices.

Rojas brings a "wealth of Homeland Security expertise and knowledge" to the job, BART officials said. His start date is yet to be determined, but likely will occur in late May or early June.