Community volunteer targeted by thief while cleaning illegal dumping site in Oakland
A man known for his volunteer work, cleaning up streets in the East Bay, became the target of a robber.
Andy Wang was in West Oakland, picking up piles of trash and syringes when a man on a motorcycle came in and swiped his GoPro, a tool he uses to document his work.
Wang is an engineer and has developed software to track illegal dumping sites and trends over the years, but he doesn't just work on his computer. He gets out in the community to clean up litter-filled streets.
He was inspired to volunteer after watching numerous videos of people doing community service during the pandemic.
"Seeing those videos made me be like, you know, that's really cool," he said. "I want to do something similar."
Since then, he's been going to illegal dumping sites with his GoPro to document his work.
"I will clean up a place sometimes and, in a week, or even a day it gets trashed. It does get a bit, I do get sad and it does get discouraging," he said.
But last Sunday, Wang experienced a new low when he became a victim of a crime.
"Literally was biking at like very high speed towards me and he just swiped my GoPro," he said. "I think he was trying to aim for my phone because I was documenting at that time, but I luckily, just in time, you put it in my pocket."
He was just finishing up a three-day cleaning project when he was robbed. Since then, he's received a lot of support from the community, but he has also received some criticism.
People were questioning why he was out there alone. Wang says it was a learning experience.
"GoPro, you know it's only worth $400-500, but human life, that's priceless," he said.
Wang says the incident will not deter him from cleaning up the community, but he is looking at ways to do it safely.
"I hope that this does not disincentivize people from getting cleanups," he said. "I think this could serve as a good reminder that we just have to be very careful and maybe, like you know, this is a good reminder maybe why we should do it not alone but with other people."