Flash Mob Robberies Target High-End Retailers in Los Angeles

High-end retailers in Los Angeles are being targeted in flash mob robberies, where dozens of people ransack stores to steal luxury goods. Dressed in monochrome black and gray head to toe, a mob recently stormed through the doors of Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga mall Saturday afternoon.

Robbery at Nordstrom

More than 30 masked robbers, men and women, flowed into the Canoga Park store, immediately heading for the top-dollar purses, clothes racks, and jewels. The sound of glass display cases thrown to the ground sounded like gunshots, said a Nordstrom employee who had a clear line of sight of the robbery. She told customers to run to a back room in case the robbery turned violent.

Impact on Crime Rates

Overall crime rates in Los Angeles are down from last year, and a recent surge in smash-and-grab robberies makes up little of the overall problem of retail thefts. Still, the audacious daytime incidents over the last few weeks have cast a long shadow, leaving people who shop and work at malls unsettled.

Concerns and Responses

The brazen Nordstrom robbery was captured on video and quickly became national news – and more fodder in the debate over how to respond to retail crime that is roiling big cities including L.A., San Francisco, and New York. In recent weeks, organized mobs hit stores across the L.A. region, including Nike, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent.

The LAPD responded to the robbery by beefing up patrols. But officials said they are concerned about the message the brazen mobs send about safety. “The most disheartening thing here is that this is what we’ve come to here in L.A.,” said LAPD Cmdr. Gisselle Espinoza. “We are interviewing people and trying to find leads and strategies to find out who these people are.”

Organized Crime Networks

Sophisticated networks are sometimes organized on social media and messaging apps, targeting luxury retailers and then reselling items through websites. The thieves coordinate to steal merchandise such as perfume, cosmetics, toiletries, and power tools, using an army of cohorts to deliver their stolen merchandise to warehouses. Although Plexiglas cases and steel cables deter the professional shoplifting crews, the mobs aren’t beyond using sheer force and even violence to get what they want.

Losses and Rewards

LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi told the city’s civil Police Commission on Tuesday that the Nordstrom thieves made off with more than $100,000 of merchandise within minutes. Five days earlier, the loss was even greater at the Yves Saint Laurent in Glendale. Thirty shoplifters grabbed about $300,000 of merchandise. Rick Caruso, whose company owns the Americana at Brand shopping center, offered a $50,000 reward leading to the arrests of the suspects.

Debate over Justice Reform

The Westfield Topanga attack has underscored how such high-profile crimes have become political issues. In San Francisco, retail thefts have roiled the city. Some top retailers, including Nordstrom and Whole Foods, have closed stores in parts of the city that have struggled to recover from the pandemic. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the robbery “absolutely unacceptable… Those who committed these acts and acts like it in neighboring areas must be held accountable.”

Caruso, who narrowly lost a bid to be Los Angeles mayor, said the state’s politicians and prosecutors need to “have some backbone” and realize that decriminalizing lesser crimes and adopting so-called zero bail policies allow repeat offenders to get out quickly and commit new crimes.

Crime Statistics and Policies

Mob thefts first drew headlines a few years ago after a series of incidents in high-end malls across California as well as in San Francisco’s Union Square. Under California law, “organized retail theft” can be prosecuted as a felony if an individual works with at least one other person to steal with the intent to sell. The surge in such high-profile crimes renewed debate over justice reform measures, such as zero bail policies for most misdemeanor crimes, including shoplifting.

LAPD crime statistics show that the number of burglaries so far in 2023 has climbed to 8,567 compared with 7,579 in the same period of 2021, about 13% higher than 2021 but 4% lower than last year. Similarly, robberies are up 4% over 2021 but down 14% from last year. Overall, crime has decreased from last year, by 2%, but is still significantly above 2021 levels by 12%. Violent crime is trending down for a second year, with a nearly 9% drop in 2023, according to LAPD statistics.

Mall Security and Public Perception

By Monday, more security guards than usual patrolled the Westfield Topanga mall, said Courtney Blair, 23, who regularly visits the mall. The overall feeling is that the mall intends to deter any copycats, but Blair is concerned that the increase in security will only be temporary. “If the increase in security goes away, after the attention on the robbery dies down, then the sense of safety will also go away,” Blair said. “If that happens, then the mall will lose my physical patronage. I’ll still buy things online.”