Looters attack California stores

Organized groups of thieves ransacked stores across California’s Bay Area all weekend. Nearly a dozen stores at San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district reported break-ins of groups grabbing merchandise from stores such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry. On Saturday night, cars flocked to a Nordstrom store near San Francisco where roughly 80 masked looters smashed shelves with crowbars, pepper-sprayed or attacked three employees, and ran back to their getaway cars with stolen items. Only three of the looters have been arrested and charged. The crime wave continued into Sunday with a smash-and-grab burglary at a mall in the Bay Area. Witnesses reported up to 50 teens armed with hammers smashing jewelry cases.

What is law enforcement doing? Many retail stores have a “no chase” policy due to liability concerns, and state prosecutors cannot press felony charges against an individual unless he or she stole at least $950 worth of merchandise. Police estimate robbers from the Union Square incident got away with roughly $1 million in goods total. San Francisco’s city government said it is adding more foot patrol officers to shopping districts and bulking up the retail crimes investigation department.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about returning funding to police in Austin, Texas, amid a crime wave.