OAKLAND, Calif. – Neighbors in a quiet community in North Oakland are banding together to find someone throwing rocks into their windows for no apparent reason.
Neighbors share similar stories
What they’re saying:
More than a dozen residents in the neighborhood tucked off Telegraph Avenue near Rockridge said rocks have been thrown at their homes or cars, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Luis Aguirre, who lives on Ayala Avenue, said the first time he was hit was an early morning in late September, when a rock went through his front window.
He got out of bed to find a rock the size of his fist in his living room.
“It was literally right where we sit in our living room where the rock splattered glass all over the place,” he said. “It could have easily been me or my daughter who was sitting right there.”
A broken living room window on September 27.
The incident led him to install security cameras, just in time for a second hit in early October.Â
Aguirre said he heard a crash around 8 p.m. on October 6 while he was putting his daughter to bed.
His security camera captured a man walking on the street, and while passing Aguirre’s car, smashing a rock through the driver’s side window before running away. The person in the video did not appear to be interested in rummaging through the car.
Photo by Luis Aguirre of the inside of a car with broken glass and a rock on Ayala Ave.
Just up the street, Sam Dodge said his work car was hit twice over the summer, but nothing was taken.Â
“It’s very disturbing, obviously we have small kids, it’s a lot of families in the neighborhood,” he said.
A homeowner at the corner of Ayala Avenue and 57th Street said their duplex was hit six times in the last 12 months.Â
She shared security video of an incident on August 15 just after 5 a.m. when a single man walked by and threw a rock into the window. An audible crash is heard in the video.
Again on September 21st, a man with similar build is seen on security footage throwing a rock at her window at around 7:30 p.m. while it was still light outside.
The homeowner, who does not want to be identified, told us she was hit most recently on Wednesday at around 5:45 a.m. by a rock the size of a large melon.
Screenshot of Ring camera footage from home on Ayala Ave. on August 15 before person is seen throwing an object into a window.
On Thursday, that duplex still has ground-floor windows boarded up.
Financial burden for senseless vandalism
By the numbers:
The homeowner told us she has spent $6,000 to repeatedly repair her windows, and she plans to spend another $3,000 on metal gates on the ground floor windows.
Similarly, Aguirre said he’s spent nearly $2,000 to repair his windows and install cameras.
One neighbor on Vicente Street said when their street-side apartment window was hit in September, the window was repaired, only to be hit again about two weeks later.
That neighbor said the rock came through the window and nearly hit someone sleeping inside.
Neighbors come together to find rock thrower 
Raw video: Rockridge vandal hurling rocks through windows
Surveillance video from homes in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood shows someone hurling rocks through windows on separate occasions. The incidents have spanned several months and cost neighbors thousands of dollars in repairs.
In the last few weeks, neighbors in the community started sharing security footage with each other, and they think one person is responsible.
Aguirre said he helped make and put up flyers around the neighborhood for neighbors to keep an eye out for the rock thrower, who they believe is responsible for all of the incidents.Â
“It just looks like the same individual hitting houses randomly and for no real reason, not trying to steal anything,” said Aguirre.
Dodge agreed, saying, “It does seem like it’s one person and they’re obviously in crisis, and I’m just hoping together we can get the help this person needs.”
The neighbors hope by coming together, they can help police put an end to the vandalism.
“We want this resolved as soon as possible just so everyone has a little peace of mind again,” said Aguirre.Â
There are no reported injuries in the incidents and it’s unclear what the motive is.
A spokesperson from Oakland Police said the department is investigating, but it can’t confirm whether the cases are related.