Thieves stole nearly $10,000 worth of goods from Home Depot and Nordstrom in two separate incidents in California this week.
A large group of brazen men ran into a Home Depot in Signal Hill on Aug. 27, filling two shopping carts with $5,000 worth of power tools as shocked employees and customers looked on.
In a video of the Home Depot theft uploaded to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the seven men – seen wearing black and gray hoodies – hurriedly rushed to leave the store with their goodies.
They pushed two carts out the doors, as well as, carried as much as they could in their arms while at least four store employees watched.
The Signal Hill Police Department responded to the incident, according to a report.
A day later, a couple was seen sprinting out of an Irvine Nordstrom with armfuls of clothing. After leaving the store, they were spotted on surveillance running up to their Kia Forte, according to a video released by the Irvine Police Department.
The two crimes are just another example of brazen shoplifters hitting up retailers in smash-and-grab robberies.
A Sherman Oaks Macy’s store was hit last week, where a group of thieves filled bags with merchandise.
The group fled from the Westfield Fashion Square shopping center in two cars.
No arrests have been made in either incident.
Southern California law enforcement agencies have created a retail crime task force to help curb the increasing incidents.
The new task force is composed of the LA Police Department, the LA County Sheriff’s Department, US Marshals Apprehension Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Apprehension Task Force.
The effort has 22 full-time investigators that will focus on retail theft.
