The burglars were brazen, using sledgehammers, bolt cutters and crowbars to bust their way into cigarette stores around the Bay Area. They apparently cared so little about police intervention, that authorities say they returned to the same Concord store twice more after BART officers interrupted them the first time.
The crew has been linked to at least 34 burglaries and an estimated loss of $970,000 within a two-month span. Along the way, they successfully evaded pursuing officers time and time again, made off with $200,000 from a Chanel store in Southern California and even allegedly recorded a rap music video featuring a stolen Jeep that had been at a half-dozen burglaries, according to authorities.
Police identified three suspects, who they claim are part of an Oakland-based gang with a name to match the burglary crew’s audacious modus operandi: “F— Everyone.” The gang is a subset of a larger group known as ENT, which has been linked to numerous shootings around the East Bay, including a lengthy rivalry with the Oakland-based Case Gang.
Prosecutors have filed charges against three in connection to the two-month long 2023 burglary spree. Only one of them is actually in custody, while two others have had arrest warrants since January and are considered fugitives, court records show.
Police linked the group to burglaries in Benicia, Union City, Vacaville, Concord, Brentwood, San Leandro, Vallejo, Livermore, Tracy, Walnut Creek, Dublin, Oakland, and as far south as San Diego, according to court records. Several other suspects remain uncharged, authorities said.
The lone suspect in custody, 26-year-old Robert Lee Johnson of Tracy and Oakland, was probably the easiest to identify. Authorities allege that he was wearing a police GPS ankle monitor at the time of the burglaries, as a condition of parole for a prior home invasion robbery conviction. They also allege that he recorded and posted a music video where he’s sitting on and in a Jeep that was linked to several of the crimes.
Johnson now faces 30 counts of burglary and vandalism, and is next due in Contra Costa court to enter a plea on April 15. He originally faced 32 charges but at his recent preliminary hearing, a judge threw out two counts due to lack of evidence, court records show.
The incriminating music video, allegedly recorded by Johnson under the stage name “Big Paid,” also features 22-year-old Oakland resident Alejandro McDonald as an extra. McDonald is one of the other suspects — currently charged with 25 counts of burglary and vandalism — but he has not yet appeared in court. A warrant for his arrest remains active.
Police say they’re also searching for a third suspect, Quinn Edwards of Oakland, who faces 47 counts, court records show.
The charges stem from a joint police investigation, which started last October when the crew allegedly hit a Louis Vuitton store in Walnut Creek, making off with $260,000 in merchandise. While it was one of the only incidents that didn’t involve a cigarette store, a Walnut Creek police detective started scouring recent burglary reports and was soon able to link other break-ins to the gang, dating back to Sept. 8, 2023, according to court records.
As police investigated, the break-ins continued. A smoke shop in Tracy was hit just two days after the Walnut Creek burglary, for $35,000 in cigarette cartons. A week after that, 60 cigarette cartons were stolen from Discount Cigarettes in Concord, the third time within a one-month span that the store was targeted. On the prior two occasions, police interrupted the burglars, once before they got inside, and once as they were loading roughly $15,000 in stolen cigarettes into a car. Both times, the burglars were able to get away, police say.
Just one hour after the third Discount Cigarettes burglary, the crew allegedly drove to Dublin and stole an ATM from a Chevron gas station at 4:21 a.m. Two days later, police in Oakley allegedly interrupted a group attempting to break through the front gate of a Payless Tobacco store, chased them onto Highway 4 and disabled their Dodge Charger with spike strips. But the suspects were still able to disappear into the night by running onto BART tracks, police say.
There was another police chase just six days later, when the group allegedly caused $10,000 in damage breaking into a Smoke 4 Less in San Pablo, stole $30,000 worth of cigarettes, then evaded police in a stolen Jeep and escaped onto Interstate 80. Because police were never able to catch the burglars during these chases, they are unsure who the driver was, but the Jeep from the San Pablo chase is believed to be the same one seen in the music video, according to police.
