Gang of brazen thieves strip San Diego Nordstrom store of $140,000 in designer handbags
A group of brazen thieves hit a San Diego, California, Nordstrom and got away with $140,000 in merchandise and designer handbags.
Police said that the incident happened on Wednesday, October 26, at the Westfield UTC in University City, a commercial district near the University of California San Diego.
The thieves struck just after 7pm, according to a representative with the San Diego Police Department.
In less than 60 seconds, the group, comprised of seven to nine thieves, is able to grab dozens of bags and leave the store completely without being stopped.
Within seconds of coming into the camera's frame, the group got to work, grabbing bags from the display cases inside the store
The group members had cutters with them so that they could remove tags that would alert security as they exited
Just as quickly as they entered the frame, the group of thieves were able to exit quickly with 70 total bags
This is the Nordstrom where seven to nine thieves got away with $140,000 in merchandise
A total of 70 bags were taken during the heist, police said after the fact.
The reported value of the designer purses is $140,000. The exact brands of the purses stolen is unknown, however.
It's unclear if the group was armed with weapons, but they did have cutters on them to remove tags from the purses quickly.
Surveillance video from inside the store shows the group just walk away after jacking the bags.
Officials with the San Diego Police Department told KSWB that they believe the group of thieves are part of a theft ring from Los Angeles.
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ShareThe group has yet to be identified but does appear to include both black and white individuals, as well as men and women.
At this time, no arrests have been made.
DailyMail.com reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department, the San Diego Police Department, and officials at Nordstrom, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Nordstrom isn't the only high-end story at the Westfield UTC, though.
The popular San Diego mall has stores like Chanel, Hermes, Jo Malone, Kate Spade, Kendra Scott, Le Labo, Louis Vuitton, and more.
The shopping destination is also home to several high end jewelry stores, another type of store known for being targeted by thieves looking to make quick money.
The theft has scared some customers so much because of how safe the mall, and the area surrounding it, typically are.
'Always felt safe here,' said one shopper who spoke to FOX5 in San Diego. 'So it's kind of concerning.'
The Westfield UTC is a high-end shopping plaza just north of downtown San Diego
The outdoor mall is known for its offering of designer and affordable brands, as well as its public art displays
In addition to the mall being home to stores like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Kate Spade, and more, Westfield UTC has high-end restaurants and eateries
The San Diego theft is just one marker of a startling and troublesome trend in states like California, helmed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
According to data released by the Office of the Attorney General of California, the state saw a 6.7 percent uptick in violent crimes from 2020 to 2021.
Property crimes were also on the rise, up 3 percent with just under 2,220 incidents reported.
Additionally, the arrest rates decreased in 2021, almost 7 percent from 2020, which saw historically low numbers of crimes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's state saw a nearly 7 percent increase in violent crimes in 2021 and a 3 percent increase in property crimes. Arrests were down, however
The incident at the San Diego mall came less than 48 hours after thieves hit a Los Angeles Chanel store, getting away with an unknown number of products.
It's unclear if the two thefts are related, but San Diego Police officials did say they believe that
At that time, at least two people used a stolen van to smash through the front of the Beverly Grove location, the second incident of its kind in three months.
The smash-and-grab happened just after 2.30am on October 25.
Police said last week the suspects drove the van into the front window of the Chanel store in an attempt to steal the merchandise inside.
Police responded early in the morning on October 25 to the Chanel store in Beverly Grove for reports of a burglary
An armed security guard was inside at the time and was able to fend off the suspects after they smashed the vehicle through the window
Chanel bags were seen strewn on the sidewalk after the burglary. Some purses sold by the designer brand cost upwards of $4,000
The window was barred with a grate at the time of the incident, video and photos from the scene show.
Additionally, police told DailyMail.com that the van used by the unidentified suspects had recently been stolen.
Video from local news outlets showed a messy scene with glass shattered both on the sidewalk outside of the location as well as on the floor of the store.
In one clip, handbags appeared strewn across the ground.
According to Chanel's website, purses sold by the company can range in price from $200 to upwards of $4,000.
That investigation is ongoing.
Last Tuesday's robbery in Los Angeles wasn't the first for the store, however.
In July, thieves struck the exact same store, using a white van to ram into the entrance and grab merchandise.
Thousands of dollars worth of Chanel items were stolen in the July 20 burglary before the group took off in two vehicles.
The four suspects in that incident were later arrested for allegedly burglarizing a Neiman Marcus store Fashion Island shopping mall in Newport Beach just hours after the Chanel hit.
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