Multiple cities across the United States have reported smash-and-grab robberies that occurred on Black Friday.
Several parts of California, including Lakewood, Monterey, and Los Angeles all experienced the robberies on the post-Thanksgiving shopping day.
On Friday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported that eight people entered a Home Depot in Lakewood, which is part of Los Angeles County, and they immediately went to the tool aisle. The group took roughly $400 worth of sledgehammers, hammers and crowbars from the store, according to officials. As noted by the department, the suspects may have left the scene in a damaged, red Mercedes Benz.
The Los Angeles Times also wrote that the Los Angeles Police Department reported a string of robberies in the city Friday evening. More than one of those crimes included physical altercations with staff members. In one incident, a store worker was sprayed with a chemical agent, and in another, several employees said they were pushed to the ground as the robbers left the store.
Northwest of Los Angeles, in Monterey, four people robbed a Sunglass Hut store at a shopping center, stealing $30,000 worth of sunglasses on Friday afternoon. The group was described by police as two women and two men in their early to mid-twenties. A store manager said the four were out of the store within two minutes.
In Chicago, four smash-and-grab robberies were also reported after they took place early Thursday morning and early Friday morning. Stores that were looted included a Canada Goose retail location, a Foot Locker store, a North Face store, and cell phone store. While the value of stolen merchandise was unclear, the TV station that reported the incidents confirmed that items were taken from all four stores.
In Burnsville, Minnesota, a Best Buy was also robbed during the busy shopping day on Friday as a group of 20 to 30 people hauled off electronics and other goods from the store. In early November, several high-end retail stores such as Burberry and Louis Vuitton saw robberies and vandalism in the San Francisco area.
