San Francisco’s Legendary Gay Club Oasis Robbed at Gunpoint
The San Francisco LGBTQ club was robbed by gun-wielding men, who stole the cleaning crew's wallets and phones and damaged the club's mural.
Masked men vandalized and robbed, at gunpoint, the legendary San Francisco gay nightclub Oasis.
The incident occurred on July 18 around 5 a.m., while the club’s cleaning crew was working. Video from surveillance cameras shows four men in ski masks ripping “the front main door of the club off with crow bars,” according to owner D’Arcy Drollinger.
The three cleaners were reportedly held down as the men took their phones and wallets. The names of the victims are not being released to protect their identities.
According to Drollinger, the robbers ransacked the club’s office, broke Internet equipment, and raided the bar’s inventory in the basement, where they drank tequila and Red Bull before leaving.
“Because the alarm wasn’t set because the cleaning crew was in there working, the alarm didn’t go off,” Drollinger told the San Francisco Chronicle. However, another Oasis employee, while at home, saw the camera footage of the robbers breaking into the bar and called police.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department said officers arrived shortly after the robbers left and confirmed there were no reported injuries.
Part of the club’s exterior mural — “Showtime,” painted by five San Francisco artists — extends to the door and was also damaged during the break-in.
“One of my staff had to basically weld a big patch on the door to be able to get it to close and lock last night,” Drollinger said.
Drollinger estimates repairs will cost about $10,000 and has launched a GoFundMe campaign for that amount. The money raised will also go to the cleaning crew members who were robbed of their money and belongings. So far, the campaign has raised more than $26,000.
Drollinger noted that the mayor’s office had reached out to him about city grants available to help cover the cost of the broken door.
Despite the robbery, the club was able to resume business as usual that same night.
Drollinger said that Lex Montiel, the owner of the historic leather bar the SF Eagle, which is nearby, told him that there was an unsuccessful break-in attempt at 4:50 a.m. that same morning.
Montiel told the Chronicle that it was the second time this month that his club had been targeted, adding that other nightlife venues have experienced break-in attempts, putting further stress on businesses still struggling to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that went into effect in 2020 and 2021.
“The police and city need to do something about this wave of crime on the entertainment industry,” Montiel said. “Patrols need to be coming around more at the hour the cleaning crews are working. They’re in danger if the police aren’t taking care of the situation.”
Drollinger is relieved that none of the cleaning crew members were injured but still feels vulnerable.
“I think this kind of thing is happening in every major city, it’s not specific to San Francisco,” he said. “But the guns make me very nervous. Our job is to help people escape for a few hours and it’s hard when that kind of reality seeps into this space that feels safe.”
Anyone with information about the Oasis robbery or other attempted break-ins at other venues is asked to call the police department’s 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the text message with “SFPD.”
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