Bay Area is hit by THIRD consecutive day of looting as 50-strong hammer gang storms jewelry store after Macy's and Lululemon stores were hit: Thieves take advantage of woke 'misdemeanor' law
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10230017/Bay-Area-hit-consecutive-day-brazen-looting-gang-mall-jewelry-store.html
* The San Francisco Bay Area faced a third consecutive day of brazen shoplifting on Sunday
* A group of about 40 to 50 teenage looters wielding hammers smashed glass cases at a Hayward jewelry store and ran off with an unknown amount of goods at around 5.30pm Sunday
* The suspects also reportedly ran into other stores in the Southland Mall and walked away with clothes and shoes, though police do not know how many items were stolen
* Just about an hour later, in San Jose, a group of suspects entered a Lululemon store in the outdoor mall at Santana Row and took an unknown amount of merchandise before they fled the scene
* The thefts come one day after a group of 80 brazen shoplifters entered a Nordstrom in nearby Walnut Creek
* Three people were arrested in that incident, in which three employees were injured
* And on Friday, a Luis Vuitton store in San Francisco's Union Square was targeted and ransacked by a group of more than a dozen thieves
* Residents in the business owners in the area cite a 2014 law that downgraded the theft of property less than $950 in value from a felony charge to a misdemeanor for the rise in thefts
* They also blame woke San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin for a rise in crime - he now faces a recall election amid fury over his soft-on-crime stance
San Francisco Bay has been hit by a third day of brazen looting, with a gang of thieves filmed smashing glass cases at a jewelry store and emptying them as staff screamed in terror.
The latest incident happened at a Sam's Jewelers store at the Southland Mall in Hayward around 5:30pm PST Sunday evening, and was caught on camera.
Robbers - said to have been part of a gang of around 40 to 50 teens who entered the mall - wielded hammers to smash display cases at Sam's, before making off with goods. Dramatic footage shot from a nearby store showed shop workers screaming with fear as the disturbing scene unfolded.
Also on Sunday, another gang of looters snatched garments from upmarket yoga clothing brand Lululemon's San Jose store, KPIX reported.
And on Saturday, video posted to Twitter a swarm of robbers was caught on security camera stealing prescriptions from Wellspring Pharmacy in Oakland at around 7.30pm.
Pharmacy employees sped up the footage to show dozens of people running through the store to grab boxes of drugs off the shelves before quickly moving out. It is unclear what drugs were stolen, but staff say customers' whose meds were stolen will be able to collect replacement meds that have been ordered in.
Store employees told KGO-TV reporter Dion Lim they were 'overwhelmed and devastated' by the brazen theft, as it is a small drug store and does not have the same resources as chains like CVS or Walgreens.
Video of the Sam's incident, meanwhile, shows the men, all of whom were wearing hoodies, smashing the cases and running off with handfuls of jewelry, with one man even running back to grab an item he dropped before fleeing.
People inside the store screamed and ran away from the horrifying scene, which has become common in the Bay Area since a California state law downgraded the theft of property less than $950 in value from a felony charge to a misdemeanor in 2014.
Store staff and security now tend not to pursue or stop thieves who have taken anything worth less than $1,000.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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