XPost: alt.january, alt.politics.republicans, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
   From: rkoch@banmlkday.com   
      
   The Los Angeles Police Department said a "mob of criminals"   
   ransacked a Nordstrom department store in Topanga on Saturday,   
   stealing more than $300,000 worth of products in broad daylight.   
   The smash and grab robbery is at least the third for a   
   California Nordstrom in less than two years.   
      
   One of the videos from the robbery, shared on X, formerly known   
   as Twitter, by Noel Escobar, shows masked individuals flooding   
   through the Nordstrom storefront at the Westfield Topanga Mall,   
   plowing through clothing racks and smashing display cases in a   
   rush to grab whatever they could.   
      
   Police said on Monday that the thieves made off with more than   
   $300,000 in "high-end handbags, clothing, and other easily re-   
   sellable items," revising earlier estimates of the value of   
   stolen goods. For residents and mall shoppers, "it is a loss of   
   feeling safe," the LAPD said.   
      
   More than 30 robbers were involved and one suspect sprayed bear   
   spray on the face and body of a security guard at the store's   
   entrance, police said.   
      
   KTLA reported that several suspects with ties to other organized   
   crime robberies in the area were arrested. The store was   
   evacuated when the robbery ended.   
      
   Another "flash mob" robbery took place in Los Angeles County   
   just days before, at the Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale on   
   Aug. 8. The Glendale Police Department said in a statement last   
   week that at least 30 suspects rushed into the store just before   
   5 p.m. and stole property valued at approximately $300,000.   
      
   "These 'flash mob' burglaries involve a large, coordinated group   
   of individuals simultaneously rushing into the store,   
   overwhelming staff and taking it over," Glendale Police said.   
   "The suspects grab as much merchandise as possible before   
   fleeing in multiple vehicles."   
      
   Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Saturday's incident   
   "absolutely unacceptable."   
      
   "Those who committed these acts and acts like it in neighboring   
   areas must be held accountable. The Los Angeles Police   
   Department will continue to work to not only find those   
   responsible for this incident but to prevent these attacks on   
   retailers from happening in the future."   
      
   Saturday's robbery was the third Nordstrom heist in California   
   in less than two years.   
      
   On Nov. 20, 2021, some 80 people conducted a nearly identical   
   robbery in Walnut Creek, just outside of San Francisco. Like in   
   the recent attack in Topanga, the Walnut Creek robbers utilized   
   a chemical spray, using it on one of the store employees. Police   
   arrested three suspects outside the store at gunpoint, NPR   
   reported at the time.   
      
   And two days later, 18 to 20 people broke into a Nordstrom store   
   at the Grove, a high-end shopping center in Los Angeles,   
   stealing $5,000 of merchandise, the Los Angeles Times reported.   
   Three suspects were arrested within a handful of hours with some   
   of the stolen products in their car.   
      
   https://www.npr.org/2023/08/14/1193726286/smash-and-grab-mob-   
   criminals-nordstrom-los-angeles-california   
        
      
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