A girl of just 14 is among an organized gang of female looters arrested after the latest in a series of brazen daylight raids targeting stores in California.
She and her mentors did not even bother to disguise themselves as they ransacked the Nike store in Irvine, grabbing armfuls of clothes as they sauntered around before strolling unchallenged into the street.
The latest raid came as 12 LA counties launched a last-ditch legal challenge to the Democrat state’s new zero-bail law, which allows ‘presumptive innocent’ suspects to return to the streets immediately after arrest.
‘The elimination of cash bail for these types of offenses is really an invitation to these kind of folks who are inclined to break the law and inclined to do it so brazenly,’ warned Tom Saggau of the LA Police Protective League.
Security footage of Thursday’s attack shows the four, and an unknown male accomplice, make off with round $3,000 of clothing including hoodies, pants, shirts, sports bras.
The thieves were bent over with the eight of their loot after raiding the Nike store in Irvine
Police believe it is not the first time the gang had targeted the store in Irvine, with other outlets in Carlsbad and San Clemente also falling victim to $11,000 of stolen goods
Police said the four are thought to be a part of an organized retail crime group which has stolen around $11,000 in a series of previous raids on Nike stores in Irvine, Carlsbad and San Clemente.
Zero bail was first introduced to combat overcrowding in the city’s jailed during the pandemic but expired last summer.
LA rapper 50 Cent warned the city was ‘finished’ after it announced it would reintroduce the policy earlier this summer.
He spoke out after a judge in the Democrat-run city ruled that holding inmates to cash bail when they can’t afford to pay was a violation of their constitutional rights.
‘LA is finished watch how bad it gets out there. SMH [shaking my head],’ the hip hop star wrote on social media.
Governor Gavin Newsom has been a fierce defender of the move claiming it would help ‘root out racial inequity and structural bias’.
‘We will once again have the opportunity to make California a national leader in the unfinished fight for equity and justice,’ he said as he campaigned for the measure.
But it has sparked a furious reaction in a state where robberies jumped 10 percent last year and nearly 580,000 larcenies were reported to the police.
None of the unmasked thieves seemed to show any fear of being recorded on the store’s security cameras
One even paused for a final grab when an item took her fancy before exiting the store off Interstate 405
An unknown male was also captured by the cameras as he mad his way out of the store in Irvine
A casual glance over the shoulder and a thief makes off with a massive pile of clothes
‘How are we going to make sure that criminals out there don’t feel there are no consequences to the actions they take?’ LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger demanded this week.
‘Our communities have been not shy about telling us about how nervous they are about this change,’ LA County Sheriff Robert Luna told ABC7.
‘They are concerned about the lack of consequences for those who commit crimes and specifically those who are repeat offenders.’
One suspected shoplifter last week brazenly returned to the store where she was accused of stealing $600 worth of manicure equipment to demand the shopkeepers return the phone she had dropped.
‘The owner and shopkeeper told her if she returned the stolen goods she could have her phone back ‘no questions asked’, security footage showed.
The suspect then angrily shoved the shop owner in the face and sent him stumbling into the shelves of nail supplies behind him. She then went for the pregnant cashier by aggressively lunging at her.
It came as dozens of stores in Philadelphia were targeted on successive nights with ‘flashmob’ raids, smashing their way in and looting thousands of dollars worth of high-end goods from retailers including Foot Locker, Lululemon and Apple.
More than 50 people have been arrested including Dayjia ‘Meatball’ Blackwell, who livestreamed the robberies and encouraged others to join in.
She filmed a mob as they looted a succession of shops, before moving on to a liquor store where she herself boasted about grabbing a bottle of Hennessy.
‘Tell the police if they lock me up tonight it’s going to be lit, it’s going to be a movie! Everybody’s gotta eat!’ she said to the camera.
She appeared distraught as police took her mug shot but was released on $25,000 bail on Thursday after brazenly begging her fans to pay for a lawyer.
Flashmobs involving as many as fifty people attacking stores in the Golden State, have prompted the LAPD to form a taskforce.
At the end of August the taskforce, named the Organized Retail Crime Taskforce, said they had made eleven arrests in connection with four cases.
Earlier that month a gang of more than 30 had made off with $300,000 in goods in the robbery of a Nordstrom in Topanga Mall in the city.
Videos circulating online show the thieves grabbing luxury goods from brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry and Bottega Veneta.
The gang had also deployed bear spray to attack two security guards at the store, allowing them to cause chaos.
Dayjia ‘Meatball’ Blackwell, who livestreamed a mob-style looting spree in Philadelphia and encouraged others to join in, appeared distraught as police took her mug shot
The 14-year-old girl arrested in Irvine was seized alongside Kristen Jamie Himbarger, 19, of Los Angeles, China Celeste Morris, 24, of Highland, and Anaiya Syrai Cole, 19, of San Pedro.
Gary Boyer, Mayor of Glendora, said the no-bail policy which was re-institiuted on Sunday is a ‘threat to public safety’.
‘As soon as other cities in Los Angeles County know about it, I’m sure we’ll have additional support,’ he added.
‘But our big hope would be to overturn the zero bail policy or at least put a pause on it so that we have the ability to take a harder look at it and find out whether or not this is the right thing to do.’
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