Video captured a mob of thieves swarming a Nordstrom in Canoga Park as they cleared out the store during a destructive robbery on Saturday.
Chaos ensued as a large group of masked thieves clad in dark clothing scrambled around the store, grabbing armfuls of designer clothing, purses, accessories and more.
Los Angeles police received reports of the mass robbery at the Westfield Topanga mall around 4 p.m.
Police said anywhere between 20-50 suspects are believed to be involved, although the exact number has not been confirmed.
The thieves were seen violently grabbing whatever merchandise they could carry, with many seen ripping the security devices attached to designer purses and luggage items. Store shelves and display racks were destroyed, knocked over and littered across the floor along with a ton of fallen merchandise.
At one point, a security guard who tried to intervene was attacked with a chemical spray, police said. It’s unclear what that person’s condition is.
The suspects all fled in multiple getaway cars before officers could arrive. Guests were evacuated from the department store as officers cordoned off the scene during a busy Saturday.
The estimated dollar amount of stolen merchandise is not yet known.
Citizen video later showed store employees sweeping up broken glass from the floor and clearing the mess and debris strewn everywhere. Details on how the smash-and-grab robbery was coordinated remain under investigation.
This isn’t a “flash mob”. This is definitely organized crime.
Yes, but ‘flash mob’ sounds like something the scary young people do!
RICO?
I am honestly surprised it’s not already an epidemic of mass robberies over mass shootings. As the divide between rich and poor widens, more and more people are bound to become outraged as they’re backed into a corner. I don’t condone this, I’m just not at all surprised by it and see it as one of of the natural consequences of our predicament.
Who steals designer bags with 20-50 of their friends when backed into a corner? Isn’t food generally wiser to steal if you are extremely poor?
No, if you’re already cool with stealing, it makes way more sense to steal high value items to fence for the cash to spend on all your needs. One robbery might net you food, gas, and some rent money.
Steal food and all those other things are still a need. Also you are limited to the food you can actually steal.
Again I don’t condone this and don’t necessarily believe this was the reasoning behind what happened, but no it’s not wiser to steal food over luxury goods if your intent is to feed your starving family for the foreseeable future. With one handful you can leave with $10k from that store. This is why they were dragging the purses that were basically fused to the display racks. A single purse might be $3k. So a thousand times the price of a loaf of bread. If you already made the decision that you’re stealing to support your family, are you going to want to do it every other day, or are you going to want to grab one purse that feeds your family for a month?
I can’t even get 10 people to show up for a birthday party, but they can organize 20+ for a robbery. Feels bad.
show up for a birthday party
That’s because only one person gets gifts at a birthday party.
You don’t give out party favors? Not even one of those things you blow into and it unrolls? Stingy.
I wish they’d stop calling these “flash mobs”. It’s 100% organized.
Are you under the impression that ordinary flash mobs aren’t organised? You think it really is 10-30 people randomly singing some inspirational song?
No, they’re saying these aren’t random people who all saw the same social media post to rob the mall. It’s organized, as in organized crime.
I’m sure those designer bags and clothing will be a nutritious meal for dozens of starving families struggling to get by. Goddamn ridiculous.
NBC Los Angeles reports that they used bear spray on the guard(s) (OP’s article mentions one, NBC states two) in case anyone’s curious. Not something I’d recommend trying more than once, hope they’re doing all right.
Horrifying, bear spray is to pepper spray as a Carolina reaper is to a habanero. That soon-to-be-unemployed man will have nightmares for years.
No. Bear spray is actually weaker than regular pepper spray.
How? Bear spray has 1.5x the spice, twice the force, and twice the concentration in-air.
Hmm. I suppose you’re right. I had read that it was less effective a while ago, but maybe it’s due to it being a wider spread vs targeted.
It really depends on the bear spray, there’s a lot of variation between different products.
According to his biography, Ice-T was a pioneer in this type of robbery back in the late 80s. They used to hit mall designer stores, I remember seeing video of a couple of them on the news. These items are easy to sell, and some of the most lucrative things you can steal because of that.
At one point, a security guard who tried to intervene was attacked with a chemical spray
Damn, how much is the person getting paid? Aren’t they supposed to just report it and not intervene? I mean like what do you expect one person to do against a large group of people like that. Do they even get some sort of work injury compensation if they get injured like that?
I used to buy weed in Canoga Park before it was legal.
Just so everyone knows.
Canoga Park, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time
These same clowns are going to cry and complain when these local stores shut down and leave the area without any jobs and no ability to do local shopping. This is how “food deserts” happen and how downtown areas become a ghost town.
Not sure why you are getting downvoted.
What’s worse is when there are no stores in that area, the organized crime will expand to other areas.
What makes you think these thieves are local?
If I was going to steal from somewhere, I wouldn’t do it where someone might recognize me.
They were wearing masks so I doubt that’s an issue.
So they flew in from Utah or Idaho?
I don’t think stealing from Nordstrom at the mall is displacing local grocery stores, but you go ahead.
Oh so you think these clowns draw the line at LV purses and ugly shoes?? Yeah ok. Same pieces of trash that do this, will also be willing to hit up some grocery store and steal all the baby formula or other high value items.
And when regular folks see this shit happening, it makes them want to visit all those areas less which creates a downward spiral for businesses and ultimately jobs as companies say “fuck this” and close up shop.
Good. I hope they keep doing it, especially to “luxury” stores.
Shoot thieves.
Address the cause not the symptom
Ugh, but then how will I be able to define my whole personality around gun ownership if you take away all my boogeymen?
Shoot lawmakers who vote for policies that create poverty /s
