Why In-N-Out Burger is closing a location for the 1st time

Fast food company In-N-Out Burger will close a location for the first time, following a surge of crime impacting customers and employees at its Oakland, Calif., restaurant.

The chain will close its burger joint near the Oakland International Airport on March 24, the company said in a statement reported by The Associated Press (AP). Despite having taken “repeated steps to create safer conditions our Customers and Associates are regularly victimized,” Denny Warnick, In-N-Out’s chief operating officer, said in a statement Wednesday, per the news service.

“We feel the frequency and severity of the crimes being encountered by our customers and associates leave us no alternative,” Warnick said, per the AP.

The Hill reached out to In-N-Out Burger for further comment.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the city of Oakland has faced a wave of violence and theft that has included car break-ins, property damage and robberies.

Since 2019, police have logged 1,335 incidents in the area of the restaurant location, the most of any part in the California city, the Chronicle reported. That included nine robberies, two commercial burglaries, four domestic violence incidents and 1,174 car break-ins, the newspaper added, citing police data it obtained from the Oakland Police Department.

Sean Crawford, who works near the burger joint, told the Chronicle he has witnessed suspects break into work vans and has heard customers confront them. In one incident, Crawford and some co-workers saw people in their vehicles being robbed at gunpoint.

In-N-Out Burger’s first location opened in 1948. The company is based in Irvine, Calif.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.