A woman found her stolen car gutted and abandoned in an Oakland, California, neighborhood she described as a “Honda graveyard.”
Jazz Hudson said she had attended the Malcolm X Jazz Festival at San Antonio Park and returned to find her car missing.
“What makes this hurt even more is how today started,” Hudson wrote in a Facebook post on May 16.
“Earlier today I was in Deep East Oakland helping organize a community event with the East Bay Dragons where we distributed food, clothes, books, free haircuts, mental health support, and resources to the community. We fed over 200 people.For weeks my life has revolved around organizing, healing work, youth work, civic engagement, and being part of the 40×40 initiative focused on giving back to my city. Then later I’m at the park watching my child perform with Young Gifted & Black, surrounded by beautiful community energy at the Malcolm X Jazz Festival… only to walk out with my hands full and realize my car was gone. That feeling is indescribable.”
Two days later, Hudson posted an update saying that her car had been found, but it was far from happy news.
“Unfortunately, it was recovered completely stripped. What shook me most was realizing my car wasn’t the only one. The block where it was found looked like a Honda graveyard — newer Hondas stripped down to bare shells, parts missing everywhere, people’s belongings still scattered inside the cars. Registrations. Luggage. Car seats. Obituaries. Pieces of people’s lives left behind like trash,” Hudson said. “Even while we were waiting for Oakland Police to arrive, people were still pulling up trying to look for parts off my car.”
Video filmed by Hudson shows the car, which had pieces of a broken cinderblock in the driver’s seat, missing tires, doors, body panels, seats, and many parts. Hudson said that her belongings, including materials for her herbal products business, were also taken.
KTVU reported that local residents in the area said gutted vehicles are regularly dumped in the neighborhood. The report said police are aware, and the Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force is “working on the issue.” Credit: Jazz Hudson via Storyful