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Another smash-and-grab robbery targetted a high-end department store in California on Monday (November 22) night. The Los Angeles Police Department said that roughly 20 individuals broke into a Nordstrom in Los Angeles, making off with an unknown amount of merchandise.
The looters used a sledgehammer to break the window and proceeded to clean out the store before fleeing in four vehicles. Police managed to arrest three of the suspects following a high-speed chase. Earlier in the night, a group of six robbers targeted a nearby CVS and made off with $8,500 in cash. Police have not determined if the two robberies are related.
The smash-and-grab robbery follows similar crimes committed in and around San Francisco over the weekend. On Friday, a group of masked individuals robbed multiple stores in San Francisco amid protests over the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The stores they targeted included Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Bloomingdale's.
The next night, a group of 80 masked looters targeted a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, which is about 30 minutes east of San Francisco. Robbers also targeted stores in Beverly Hills on Saturday night, targeting a Louis Vuitton store and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The recent uptick in brazen robberies has forced some stores to hire private security, while California Governor Gavin Newsom said that California Highway Patrol would be beefing up its presence around retail stores ahead of Black Friday.
"You will see substantially more, starting today, in and around areas that are highly trafficked coming into the holiday season, Black Friday, shopping malls, so the state is supplementing those efforts, and we are going to be more aggressive still," Newsom said.