A group of smash-and-grab thieves robbed a Macy’s department store at the Northridge Mall Sunday morning.
via: Daily Mail
Cellphone video of the crime showed several men dressed in dark hoodies and blue medical face masks loading up bags of what appeared to be cologne and perfume merchandise.
Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to the incident just after the robbery occurred around 11.10am.
This news comes as the trend in ‘flash robs’ are on the rise for big chain stores in California, where groups of thieves have overwhelmed retailers, taking everything they possibly can.
According to The Ocean County Register, police believe that five to ten male suspects were involved and fled in an unlicensed black Infinity.
Los Angeles Police Public Information Officer Tony Im said that the thieves reportedly used hammers and bodily force to smash glass cases filled with fragrance brands.
Due to the rise in store robberies in the state, the Los Angeles Police Department have launched a task force dedicated to preventing smash-and-grab robberies like this one.
‘The Organized Retail Crimes Task Force is a multi-agency task force, which will be led by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division,’ LAPD assistant chief Dominic Choi told KNX News Radio Los Angeles.
This new report is just one instance of ‘flash mob’ robberies that have been trending since Los Angeles’s zero cash bail policy came back into play.
The city’s recently reinstated policy means that people who are arrested and charged with a crime are allowed to be released from custody without having to pay bail upfront for certain categories of crimes.
Just last week another California Macy’s store was ransacked by four robbers at the Brea mall on September 5.
After one of the suspects was arrested, the other three went on a manic run as they stopped near an elementary school, ran into a dentist’s office and tried to get away in a rideshare car before being arrested.
A Nordstrom Rack and another Macy’s store were also targeted by groups of thieves that made off with thousands of dollars in designer handbags.
WATCH: Smash and grab at Macys in the Northridge Mall earlier today.
Over $20k in cologne and other items taken. #SMASH #Grab #theft pic.twitter.com/EOEq4PIQrx
— Richie k (@Justpurefacts1) September 12, 2023
