California police made at least nine arrests last week in connection with a spate of brazen daylight “flash mob” burglaries that has left retailers reeling and shoppers shaken.
Six alleged thieves were arrested in connection with a robbery at an East Lost Angeles Nike store after police pulled over an SUV last week and found thousands of dollars worth of stolen sneakers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The arrests came Wednesday after three people were caught on camera entering the store and walking out with whatever they could carry on Aug. 13. Several of the suspects was seen loading their hauls into large trash bags.
The suspects’ identities were not revealed by authorities in connection with that heist.
Two suspects in another flash mob were picked up by bike cops patrolling the frequently targeted Americana at Brand mall in Glendale that same day.
A suspect fills up a large trash bag with Nike sneakers during an Aug. 13 robbery in Los Angeles. Citizen App
Six unidentified suspects were arrested in connection with the heist. Citizen AppThe officers pulled over a car without license plates and found burglary tools and $30,000 worth of stolen merchandise.
Reality Leavens, 18, and Memory Yearby, 26, both of Washington state, were charged with receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools, police said.
On Thursday, Ivan Issac Ramirez, 23, was nabbed by Glendale cops in connection with a flash-mob robbery at an Yves Saint Laurent location in the mall on Aug. 8 in which “at least 30 suspects flooded into the store” and stole $400,000 worth of goods, a press release said.
Ramirez was charged with organized retail theft, burglary, grand theft and conspiracy. A warrant was issued for alleged co-conspirator Brianna Jimenez, police said. Both suspects live in Los Angeles.
On the same day the French fashion house was targeted, dozens of crooks stole more than $300,000 worth of items from the Nordstrom store at the Westfield Topanga Shopping Center, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Police in Southern California made at least seven arrests in connection with flash-mob robberies last week after a task force was assembled to crack down on the brazen trend. Google MapsA security guard was hit in the face with bear spray as the goons smashed display cases and grabbed whatever goods they could find while employees looked on helplessly.
“To criminals, it is just property taken,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. “To those who live in the area and patronize the Topanga Mall, it is a loss of feeling safe.”
“The LAPD will exhaust all efforts to bring those responsible into custody and seek criminal prosecution.”
The arrests came as a task force consisting of the LAPD, the LA County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, police in Glendale, Beverly Hills, Burbank and Santa Monica, the FBI, the US Marshals Service and the state Attorney General’s Office has been convened to clamp down on the rampages.
