Richard Hollinger, a retired professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville who has researched retail thefts, said the accessibility of products in stores was another factor. “If you shut down the fences, what are these folks going to do with all the merchandise they’re stealing?” said Lisa LaBruno, an executive at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade association. Retail industry advocates and loss-prevention experts said several factors may be behind the recent burglaries, including the proliferation of online marketplaces where unverified sellers can quickly sell, or “fence,” stolen merchandise. Several Nordstrom employees in Walnut Creek were treated for minor injuries, the company said in a statement. The same day in Oak Brook, Ill., near Chicago, 14 people grabbed about $120,000 worth of merchandise and escaped in three vehicles that were waiting nearby, the police said. The police said they later arrested three people and recovered about $50,000 in stolen merchandise. 17, three people stole merchandise from a jewelry store at a mall in Fairfield, Calif., about 27 miles north of Concord, the police there said. There, just before 9 p.m., about 80 people burst into the store, grabbed clothes, jackets and handbags, and escaped into more than two dozen cars that were waiting outside, the police said.
Hours after San Francisco leaders promised a tough response on Saturday, the burglary took place at the Nordstrom in Walnut Creek. “These are not petty thefts,” he said at a news conference. Chief Scott said that at least six men and two women were arrested in connection with several of the burglaries.ĭistrict Attorney Chesa Boudin, who faces a recall election next year and whose critics have accused him of being too lenient on crime, said on Wednesday that he had filed felony charges against the people who were arrested. Mayor London Breed of San Francisco said the city would increase the police presence and restrict vehicle access in the Union Square shopping area. “We will do what we need to do to put an end to this madness.” On Monday, he told ABC7-TV that the burglaries were “organized to a degree.” “Their plan was to overwhelm us,” Chief Bill Scott of the San Francisco police said at a news conference the next morning. They’re stealing a sense of place and confidence, and that’s why you got to get serious about it.”
“They’re not just stealing people’s products and impacting their livelihoods. Gavin Newsom of California said at a news conference on Monday. “We need to make an example out of these folks,” Gov.
They grabbed clothes, jackets and handbags, and escaped into a caravan of waiting vehicles, the police said.Īcross eight days this month, near Chicago, around the Bay Area and in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, a series of fast, high-profile burglaries have alarmed businesses, bystanders and some state and local officials, who have promised to crack down on the crimes. The following day, hours after officials vowed to prosecute the thieves and prevent another large burglary, dozens of people ran into a Nordstrom store in the suburb of Walnut Creek, Calif., 25 miles to the east. Comme des Garçons received heat after Paris Fashion Week because its models donned cornrow wigs.Over the course of several hours on Friday night, at least 30 people burglarized several of San Francisco’s most upscale stores, prosecutors said, in what law enforcement officials called one of the most brazen thefts in recent memory. In 2019, Gucci was forced to apologize after people noted that its $900 sweater suggested blackface. That same year, Burberry faced backlash for presenting a hoodie that had a noose tied around the neck. A post shared by Cedella Marley tweets mark the most recent incident in which Louis Vuitton and other luxury fashion houses have been criticized for culturally insensitive ensembles in recent years.