CNN reporter covering crime in Oakland gets car window smashed

OAKLAND, Calif. - A CNN reporter visiting Oakland to report on crime had her rental vehicle broken into on Wednesday, the latest in dramatic rise in vehicle burglaries for the East Bay city. 

Kyung Lah, a senior national correspondent for CNN, posted video of the incident on X, the company formerly known as Twitter.

"Got broken into again— but this time our car was completely empty. We were across the street— this happened in seconds," Lah tweeted.

Lah said this is the third time in the past year that one of her rental cars has been broken into in the Bay Area. She has since learned, she said, to leave nothing in the vehicle, not "even a candy bar," she tweeted. 

But beyond Lah's latest misfortune, it seems that car rental break-ins happen at an alarming pace. 

"At the rental car return lot, the employee tells us of the 250 cars returned yesterday, 27 had been broken into, just more than 10% of cars returned," she tweeted.

Seneca Scott, an Oakland-based activist who works with the Oakland NAACP, was on the scene as well and saw an upside to break-in.

"Hate to say it, but it will help the story and end the bullshit ‘crimes down’ lie," Scott tweeted.

Oakland has seen nearly 6,500 auto-related burglaries so far this year, a dramatic 25% increase compared to 2022's numbers.