This SC city is the latest to be hit as nationwide smash-and-grab thefts of eyeglasses rise

Three people stole $7,800 worth of designer glasses from a Greenville Lens Crafters and fled in a newer model BMW with what looked like dealer tags, Greenville Police reported Thursday.

Similar crimes have been reported across the country for the better part of a year in big cities and small, from Bend, Oregon to San Francisco to the greater Washington, DC, area and suburban Boston.

In San Francisco in June, two people made off with $40,000 in glasses from an optician’s office and $16,000 at her other location. Thieves in Memphis stole $30,000 worth of glasses in January.

Investigators have said in some cases thieves simply scooped handfuls of glasses into garbage bags.

Global Retail Theft Barometer recently reported sunglasses are the fourth most commonly stolen item in the apparel and fashion accessories sector.

Sgt. Jonathan Bragg of the Greenville Police Department said three people were involved in the Lens Crafters theft on Dec. 11.

“We have noticed that when it has happened here in the past that the suspects are from other states,” Bragg said when asked if there was a ring of thieves operating around the country. “We have evidence to believe that at least one of them is from Georgia.”

He said he was not sure why glasses are targeted.

“We can only speculate that it is to sell them and make money off of it,” he said.

The Washington Post reported in February after a three-week spate of smash-and-grab thefts of glasses that the high-end frames retail for more than a $1,000 apiece. They are resold online or on the streets.

The thefts typically occur during the day when stores are open. Almost always there is surveillance video of the thefts.

CBS News reported in June that thieves went into an optician’s office around noon and pepper sprayed Optician Lana Russu when she tried to thwart them from taking Dior glasses.

“It’s not fair,” Russu told CBS.