Thieves Swarm Luxury Malls, Driving Retail Crime to $100 Billion
California Governor Gavin Newsom commits $267 million to fight “brazen smash-and-grabs” hitting stores
Suspects in hoodies linked to Ross Dress For Less and WSS “flash rob” events.
Source: Los Angeles Police DepartmentIt took just minutes for more than 20 thieves, clad in hoods and masks, to swarm the Nordstrom store in the Westfield Topanga shopping center and make off with $300,000 of handbags and other luxury items. A security guard was blasted in the face with bear spray, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which dubbed it a “flash rob.”
It came just days after at least 30 suspects stole more than $400,000 in merchandise from an Yves Saint Laurent store at a mall in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale and yet another incident when a gang nabbed armloads of Gucci bags from a Bloomingdale’s in Westfield Century City mall.