Thieves attack security guard at Los Angeles Nordstrom in latest California ‘flash mob’ robbery
Thieves attacked a security guard at a Nordstrom store in Los Angeles on Wednesday night before fleeing with an estimated $25,000 in merchandise, police said.
In the latest “grab-and-smash” robbery to hit California this month, five men stormed the store at the Westfield Topanga & The Village shopping center in Canoga Park just before 7 p.m., according to local reports, and grabbed seven or eight high-end handbags.
One of the men attacked a security guard with “a chemical substance,” LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said, according to KTLA.
One suspect was reported to be wearing an orange wig. The group then fled the scene in a gray Ford Mustang.
The incident is the latest in a string of similar robberies in California.
The LAPD said in a news release Wednesday that it’s also investigating another incident, at the Beverly Center shopping mall, involving a group of thieves who “grabbed merchandise without paying and ran out.”
On Monday night, a mob of at least 20 people robbed a different Nordstrom store at The Grove retail and entertainment complex, also in Los Angeles. Police said that the group grabbed about $5,000 worth of merchandise before fleeing in at least four vehicles.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating Flash Mob Thefts that occurred at the Beverly Center and Topanga Mall pic.twitter.com/DPj4cRivWa
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) November 25, 2021
Two storefront windows on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills were smashed on Sunday, police said. Witnesses reported the locations were a Louis Vuitton store and a Saks Fifth Avenue, said the Los Angeles Times.
Capt. Max Subin of the Beverly Hills Police Department said that multiple suspects were seen traveling in vehicles before stopping on the locations and using “a sledgehammer to try to break through front windows.” However, they weren’t able to enter the stores, he noted.
Similar incidents have also been reported in northern California.
Late on Saturday, dozens of ski mask-wearing looters armed with crowbars stormed into a Nordstrom store in the Bay Area, before fleeing in waiting vehicles.
“About 25 cars just blocked the street and rushed into the Walnut Creek Nordstrom making off with goods before getting in cars [and] speeding away,” Jodi Hernandez of NBC Bay Area tweeted Saturday. “At least two people arrested at gunpoint.”
#Breaking About 25 cars just blocked the street and rushed into the Walnut Creek Nordstrom making off with goods before getting in cars snd speeding away. At least two people arrested at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/AG3R94M9L3
— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) November 21, 2021
On Wednesday, four suspects stormed into an Apple Store in Santa Rosa, about 55 miles north of San Francisco, and fled with $20,000 in merchandise, according to police.
High-end stores — including Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdale’s — in the posh Union Square neighborhood of San Francisco were also targeted by thieves last week.
Looters were arrested for allegedly bursting into a Louis Vuitton store late on Friday, grabbing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, and leaving the store completely “emptied out.” Video taken on the scene shows the store’s smashed windows and doors.
Nine people have been charged in connection with the Friday attacks, according to the AP.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters Monday that the recent string of lootings in the Bay Area was “unacceptable. Period, full stop.”
He said that the California Highway Patrol would begin increasing its presence around retail outlets.
“You will see substantially more, starting today, in and around areas that are highly trafficked coming into the holiday season, Black Friday, shopping malls, so the state is supplementing those efforts and we are going to be more aggressive still,” the Democratic governor added.
