Tag Archives: L.A. mayor Karen Boss

Dozens of masked thieves used bear spray to take down security guards before stealing around $100,000 (£78,800) worth of goods from a department store in California.

A gang of between 30 and 50 people descended on Nordstrom, a high-end clothing store, at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, near Los Angeles.

They used bear spray to incapacitate security guards before they made off with handbags and designer clothing, according to the Los Angeles Police Department….

Footage of the incident circulating on social media shows intruders wearing hoods and masks darting between aisles while staff look on.

It follows a spate of similar raids in Los Angeles and other major US cities.

Republican politicians have blamed soft-on-crime policies in Democrat-controlled areas for a rise in crime….

The same Nordstrom store was hit two years ago by a group of five masked robbers who pepper-sprayed a member of staff and made off with about $25,000 worth of goods….

Just days earlier, another flash-mob style robbery took place at a Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.

The thieves stole around $300,000 worth of goods, according to the local NBC News network.

Starbucks has already closed six of its branches in Los Angeles amid safety fears. They include two spots near Hollywood Boulevard and another near Santa Monica Boulevard.

The coffee shop chain said issues with chronic homelessness, vandalism and theft were driving factors for the closures….

Karen Bass, the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, called the robbery “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed the perpetrators would be “held accountable”…. [Blah, blah, blah]