A wave of lightning robberies terrorizes luxury stores in America. United States of America
They suddenly appear, raid a store in a few minutes and escape in cars: luxury brands are defenceless in the face of a wave of lightning robberies in the United States on the eve of the year-end celebrations.
In the most shocking of recent robberies, about 80 masked cars raided a high-end Nordstrom department store on Saturday in Walnut Creek, east of San Francisco, California, taking luxury goods from the first floor and escaping in a few minutes.
The robbery occurred one day after 40 people looted in seconds a Louis Vuitton store in Union square in San Francisco and ran away in cars.
And near Chicago, equally hit by a series of similar robberies, a gang of 14 criminals invaded another Louis Vuitton store in the suburb of Oak Brook, taking over $100,000 in luxury wallets and clothes. It was the third attack on a Vuitton store in the Chicago area in a month.
Retailers across the country are taking note and precautions against possible imitation blows, as the size of robbers' gangs and their planning capacity make their detention very difficult.
"the level of organized shoplifting we are witnessing is simply unacceptable," California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday. "stores and buyers should feel safe while doing their Christmas shopping," he said.
The robberies come at a key moment in the shopping calendar in the United States: Thursday is celebrated Thanksgiving and, a day later, "Black Friday" marks the traditional start of the frenzied Christmas shopping season.
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Newson ordered a special support force within the California Highway Patrol to work with local police to address the problem.
Despite this, the number of lightning robberies increased, with a gang of a quarantined robbers raiding a jewelry store in Hayward, near San Francisco.
Near Oakland, a casual clothing store was also swept: the security video shows more than 30 masked men entering a small store, taking shoes and clothes, and fleeing in less than a minute.
Lightning robberies, also known as "flash robberies", have occurred for years in the United States, but they multiplied in 2021, affecting small pharmacies, chains of mid-level clothing stores and high-end luxury stores. But the magnitude and speed of the Nordstrom attack on Walnut Creek shocked many.
"I wouldn't even describe it as organized crime, that was domestic terrorism," said Rachel Michelin, President of the California Minority Association, to Sacramento's Fox40 television station.
Brazen and graphic
Jeffrey Ian Ross, a criminologist at the University of Baltimore, said that there is no indication that the total number of store robberies has increased significantly in the United States.
However, according to the expert, the speed with which the shoplifting of the robberies on news and social media may have inspired others to copy them may have inspired others to copy them.
"it's brazen, it's graphic," he said.
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Ross indicated that the police, already charged with increasing cases of murder and other violent crimes, "simply can't keep up" with the volume of stolen goods and people reselling them.
So far, only three people involved in the robbery of Walnut Creek, of the nearly 80 people who participated, have been confirmed.
On Tuesday, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced felony charges against nine individuals involved in store robberies, including the Louis Vuitton store in Union square.
Michelin, however, said California might need stricter laws against this type of crime, where social networks seem to be used to coordinate criminals.
"we're going to have uncomfortable conversations and take a look at some of the laws," which "obviously aren't working," he told Fox40.
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