Nordstrom Rack and Macy’s stores are ransacked by groups of thieves who made off with thousands of dollars worth of designer purses in California
- Nordstrom Rack in Riverside has become another victim in Southern California’s battle with ‘flash robberies’
- The incidents involve a group of thieves overwhelm a store’s employees and security before making off with as many items as possible
- Macy’s, YSL and Gucci have all been recent targets as law enforcement fails to crack down on the deteriorating situation
A Nordstrom Rack in Riverside has been ransacked by a band of six thieves who made off with thousands of dollars worth of designer handbags.
The incident come as Southern California experiences a wave of ‘flash robberies’, where a group of thieves overwhelm a store’s employees and security before making off with as many items as possible.
The department store on Canyon Springs Parkway was hit first on July 10 and again just weeks later in a separate incident on August 14.
Surveillance footage from the first attack reveals a group of men and women entering the store, making a bee line for the handbag and accessories section.
The suspects are seen violently snatching the bags from display shelves while others are seen ripping the purses from security lock devices.
The brazen group loaded their arms and hands with as much as they could carry before running out of the building and driving away from the scene.
A month later two men were seen on surveillance footage leaving the same store with a bag allegedly full of stolen merchandise.
The men appear to walk out of the store calmly and without resistance from security or shop staff.
A matter of days later a similar flash robbery took place at Macy’s in Downtown Los Angeles.
A group of at least five were filmed ransacking the Macy’s store at the Santa Anita mall in Arcadia on Tuesday.
The hooded thieves were seen loading bottles of designer perfume into trash bags.
One employee could be heard shouting ‘oh my god, can somebody call someone’ as the distressing scene unfolded.
In the weeks prior three women were arrested for allegedly stealing around $30,000 worth of designer handbags from a Glendale store.
Also in Glendale a similar incident occurred when a YSL store at the Americana at Brand in Glendale was overrun by more than thirty thieves in an incident this month.
The mob successfully made off with around $300,000 worth of merchandise.
Further incidents have occurred at a luxury denim store in Gabcock Park, a Nike Store in East LA and a Gucci store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
As many of the stores targeted are high-end retailers thefts often exceed more than $100,000.
Some arrests have been made in connection with flash robberies but officials have blamed a zero cash bail policy for their inability to stem the rise of such crimes.
Los Angeles Police Protective League spokesperson Tom Saggau told Fox News Digital ‘the elimination of cash bail for these types of offenses is really an invitation to these kind of folks who are inclined to break the law and inclined to do it so brazenly.’
The policy means individuals who are arrested and charged with a crime are then released from custody without having to pay bail money upfront.
In response to the flash robbing crime spree LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement: ‘these are not victimless crimes.
‘No Angeleno should feel like it is not safe to go shopping in Los Angeles. No entrepreneur should feel like it’s not safe to open a business in Los Angeles.’
Law enforcement agencies announced the establishment of a new task force last week to tackle flash mobs in Southern California.
