Five suspects stole 7-8 expensive purses worth about $25,000 from a Nordstrom store in the Westfield Topanga mall in Los Angeles Wednesday evening. They assaulted and used bear spray on a security guard during the robbery, then fled in a newer model gray Ford Mustang.
“It’s unfortunate because these people that are here are just trying to shop for the holidays [and] for their families,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Alen Hamilton. “We’ve deployed extra officers here. It just so happened that this was one part of the mall where they were able to get in and get out, even with our opfficers being deployed here.”
The police force had deployed extra officers to the mall following several mob thefts in the state recently, however the thieves targeted the store when no officers were around.
At least one suspect was described as wearing an orange wig during the incident.
The robbery comes after a group of thieves smashed windows with a sledgehammer and other tools at a Nordstrom store at the high end mall, The Grove, late Monday in Los Angeles. Three arrests have been made in relation to that incident.
The owner of The Grove, Rick Caruso, criticized leadership in California for the growing number of retail theft crimes in the state.
“I think it’s a manifestation of weak leadership. I think it’s a manifestation of some really bad decisions that our leaders made. It’s a manifestation of we’re going to defund the cops,” Caruso said.
Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on mayors in his state to “step up” and hold the mobs of shoplifters to “account” after dozens of stores were affected by the rash of crimes in the San Francisco area.
“I’m not the mayor of California, but I was a mayor, and I know when things like this happen, mayors have to step up,” Newsom said Monday at a vaccine clinic in the Mission District of San Francisco. “That’s not an indictment. That’s not a cheap shot.”
The San Francisco area faced a rash of mob lootings over the last week, which targeted a Nordstrom, a Louis Vuitton, pharmacies, marijuana dispensaries and other retail locations.
Wellspring Pharmacy shared this video w/me showing dozens of thieves stealing medication SATURDAY around 7:30PM.
The pharmacy sped up the video & said their employees all came in today & restored the pharmacy so patients could get their meds tomorrow.
(1/2) #Oakland pic.twitter.com/xneGs7fF8w
— Dion Lim (@DionLimTV) November 22, 2021
In Walnut Creek, which is located about 25 miles from San Francisco, approximately 80 looters besieged a Nordstrom and took between $100,000 and $200,000 in merchandise, according to police. Three people have been arrested in connection to that robbery.
The crimes have spread to San Jose, about 50 miles from San Francisco, where at least four people stole $40,000 from a Lululemon in an incident police described as “organized robbery.”
