Police look for clues in abduction, fire and vandalism

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- First, a liquor store was vandalized by a gang of men in suits and bow ties for selling alcohol to blacks. Then, days later, the store owner was kidnapped and the business was burned down.
Store owner Tony Hamdan was found safe in the trunk of a car Monday, about 12 hours after the fire, as police sought to get to the bottom of the attacks.
No arrests have been made in the kidnapping, the fire or the vandalism, and Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan said it was too soon to say whether the two attacks are connected.
The fire destroyed the store's merchandise and caused major structural damage to the building, police said.
"We're very happy that he came back safe," said Frank Hernen, manager of New York Market. "We don't want this to go further."
Last week, Hamdan's store and the nearby San Pablo Liquor store were vandalized by about a dozen men wearing suits and bow ties. The men, all of whom were black, smashed liquor bottles and toppled food racks while demanding that both stores stop selling alcohol to black people, authorities said.
Possible lead
The incident at San Pablo Liquor was caught on surveillance tape, and police said they have identified six of the 10 or 11 vandals and suspect the same men trashed the New York Market.
Suspicion immediately fell on the Nation of Islam, a group of black Muslims whose members often wear suits and bow ties. However, Jordan said the suspects are not members of that group. He held out the possibility that they belong to a separate black Muslim group based in Oakland.
In 1993, Muslims affiliated with that separate group, which operates the Your Black Muslim Bakery store chain and whose members also wear suits and bow ties, were involved in a similar incident at a Richmond liquor store, police said.
Investigators were looking into the recent vandalism as hate crimes because the store owners are of Middle Eastern background and are Muslims, Jordan said Monday.