A California bike mob ransacked three separate 7-Eleven stores in under 20 minutes just hours after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a “landmark” package to crack down on retail thefts.
Approximately 20 bicycling riding thieves targeted the Hollywood area convenience stores two miles apart on Friday night, according to NBC Los Angeles, citing the LAPD.
The brazen bunch broke into each store and stole food and drink items beginning with the 7-Eleven located at 7040 West Sunset Boulevard just after 8 p.m.
The store was left with a broken window.
An employee at a second store near Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. was allegedly assaulted around 8:16 p.m., the outlet reported.
A third store on Santa Monica Boulevard was hit at 8:22 p.m.
The Post has reached out to the LAPD.
Friday night’s mayhem is the most recent smash-and-grab incident plaguing The Golden State.
One store manager told the outlet that the teens caught on video surveillance cameras on Friday, looked like the same group that struck two other 7-Eleven locations in the area last week.
Between 2019 and 2022, California saw a 22% increase in shoplifting and 16% and 13% upticks in commercial burglary and robbery, respectively, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Smash-and-Grab robberies have left local and state politicians in a bind as recent bi-partisan legislation was just signed by Newsom on Friday.
The “landmark” legislation was signed to impose tougher penalties on serial shoplifters, retail thieves and auto burglars.
The law also “permits the aggregation of stolen goods, enabling prosecutors to combine the value of multiple stolen items — even across different victims and counties — to help meet the threshold for felony grand theft.”
Grand theft in California is defined as a stolen item(s) valued over $950.
“Let’s be clear, this is the most significant legislation to address property crime in modern California history,” Newsome said on Friday.
“While some try to take us back to ineffective and costly policies of the past, these new laws present a better way forward — making our communities safer and providing meaningful tools to help law enforcement arrest criminals and hold them accountable.”
