Shoplifting on Steroids: Organized Thieves Raid Stores and Run

               (Photo - Flash mob-style robbery of Walnut Creek Nordstrom)

Shoplifting has been elevated to a dark art, as groups of people dash into stores and steal everything they can get their hands on in minutes before running away.

Here's two recent cases to illustrate just how bad the situation is becoming for retail stores in America today:

Last week a Louis Vuitton store in a Chicago suburb was raided by 14 thieves wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts.

Surveillance footage showed them brazenly grabbing bags and wiping shelves clear before dashing out the front door.

They escaped. All the police could find was one of the three cars used for the getaway (it was stolen). 

The thieves didn't display weapons or attack employees. They were very businesslike in their looting. It's estimated that the merchandize stolen amounts to $120,000.

Also last week:

About 80 thieves wearing ski masks stormed the Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek, California.

Witnesses say the large group raided the store in under one minute! 

In this case two employees were attacked by the looters who punched and kicked them while another was pepper sprayed.

Unlike the Louis Vuitton store however, at least three suspects were arrested. One, at gunpoint.

Police reported the raid was not connected to a string of nationwide riots that took place over the weekend in the wake of the Rittenhouse verdict.

No. It was just another case of organized thieves ripping off retailers. The raids have gotten out of hand and many retailers in areas like San Francisco are shutting down their stores because of the losses.

In mid-October Walgreens in San Francisco closed five of it's stores because "retail theft" has risen to unsustainable levels despite increased investment in security.

Thanks to organized serial shoplifters bare necessities are now rare luxuries on drug-store shelves across New York City.

I suppose you could blame the pandemic for the rise in shoplifting, but it has to go deeper than that. 

It goes to the lack of moral fiber in the country today. Nothing is too extreme. Nothing is off the table. People are becoming more lawless within our severely divided country with each passing day.

This decay in our society is just one more symptom of our country in a crisis.