SMPD on alert after flash mob raids hit Los Angeles
From Dolores Quintana
In response to the so-called flash mob raids in San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, the Santa Monica police have been closely monitoring the situation.
These heists have centered on some of the more upscale retail stores for the past week. According to Police Chief Ramon Batista, the Santa Monica Police Department has not only communicated and shared information with other law enforcement agencies, but also with business owners in the Santa Monica community. The boss added that communicating with the SMPD “has led some of the companies to take a stronger stance to protect their property”.
The flash mob attacks began in San Francisco on Friday, November 19, when a Louis Vuitton store was searched and robbers’ cars drove into Walnut Creek the next night to raid a Nordstrom store. In the early hours of Monday morning, the storefronts on Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills were broken into by thieves who broke the windows to gain entry.
SMPD spokesman Rudy Flores said the department has put in place a comprehensive plan to deploy a contingent of uniformed personnel in all of our business districts.
When robbers attempted an attack on the Nordstrom store in Grove in the Fairfax District on Monday November 22nd, spokesman Flores said the SMPD immediately relayed the information to our local mall.
Last weekend in Santa Monica, a private security guard on Santa Monica Place thwarted a possible flash mob attack.
According to Chief Batista, around 5:30 p.m. on November 26, an alert member of the security team in Block 200 of Broadway near Nordstrom on Santa Monica Place noticed seven vehicles – about 28 people total – parked in the alley in front of the store.
“The member of the security team called the police while writing down the vehicle descriptions and license plate information. The occupants of the vehicle noticed his behavior, became hostile and left the area before the officers arrived, “Batista said. “In this case, the quick thinking of the security staff thwarted a robbery.”
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