EIt was like being in a gangster movie, and everything happened so quickly: just before closing at 9pm last Saturday, about two dozen cars suddenly appeared in front of a branch of the Nortstrom department store chain near San Francisco. About 80 people, some of them wearing masks, came out and besieged the shop, some with crows or guns. They immediately started stealing goods, some attacked the staff and one employee was sprayed with pepper. After a while they ran back to the prey and drove off at high speed. The whole thing did not take more than a minute. The police then openly planned it as a “criminal gang” and a “shameful act”. She quickly got there and arrested three more, but the rest have now escaped.
The audacity of the mass robbery was shocking, but by no means an isolated incident. The previous evening, a full-scale robbery had taken place in the center of San Francisco, around Union Square. Gangs of thieves raided nearly a dozen stores, including branches of such luxury chains. Louis Vuitton And Burberry and some cannabis outlets. Witnesses told a local television station that the Louis Vuitton store was then completely evacuated. The San Francisco police chief later said he would do everything possible to stop this “madness.” Among others, traffic has now been diverted to make it more difficult for robbers to drive on the doorsteps of some shops. California Governor Gavin Newson has announced plans to increase his budget to combat store theft. The state police department has its own “task force” responsible for such crimes.
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