Over the weekend, a bold flash mob-style theft occurred at a Nike shop in California, and more than a dozen of the perpetrators were seen on video. Four girls and thirteen lads, all between the ages of fifteen and twenty, broke into the business and stole goods valued at about twelve thousand dollars. The robbers were shown on camera taking large amounts of product from store shelves, with some of them spilling goods as they went. While they saw and recorded the occurrence, bystanders remained silent.
This wasn’t the first time the particular Nike store faced such a theft. Los Angeles Police Department officers revealed that this location had experienced similar incidents before, and store employees suspect that the same culprits might be responsible for repeated robberies. The video footage from the latest incident is now aiding the police in their efforts to identify and apprehend the thieves.
The boldness of the heist, in which a sizable group of people stormed the store, draws attention to the difficulties merchants have in stopping and dealing with organized retail crime. The incident also begs the question of what the spectators’ duty is in such situations and if their presence may have changed the course of events.
The experience of the Nike shop highlights the need for increased security and alertness within the retail sector to discourage and successfully respond to such flash mob-style robberies, especially while law enforcement attempts to apprehend the culprits.
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