A Los Angeles-area Nordstrom was looted Wednesday night, two days after a similar incident occurred at another of the luxury chain's department stores.
A security guard was assaulted as a group of suspects fled with merchandise worth an estimated $25,000 during a smash-and-grab robbery Wednesday at the Canoga Park Nordstrom, CBSLA reported.
Approximately five suspects went into the Nordstrom at the Topanga mall and stole seven to eight high-end purses before fleeing in a grey Ford Mustang according to the LAPD.
"It's unfortunate because these people that are here are just trying to shop for the holidays [and] for their families," LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said, CBSLA reported.
"We’ve deployed extra officers here. It just so happened that this was one part of the mall where they were able to get in and get out, even with our officers being deployed here."
The smash-and-grab robbery occurred two days after a mob of at least 20 people looted a Nordstrom store elsewhere in Los Angeles. The suspects in that robbery fled the scene in at least four vehicles, CBSLA said.
That Monday night incident was linked to another burglary in South Los Angeles just an hour earlier, police said.
Three people were caught and arrested, with several items of clothing, and at least one cash register being recovered, LAPD officials said.
Billionaire businessman Rick Caruso, owner of The Grove shopping center where the Monday night robbery occurred, slammed local leaders for not doing enough to address rising crime.
"I think it's a manifestation of weak leadership," said Caruso, who has said he has contemplated a run for mayor of Los Angeles.
"I think it’s a manifestation of some really bad decisions that our leaders made. It’s a manifestation of we’re going to defund the cops."
In the latest incident, a security guard was treated at the scene after being attacked with a chemical spray to the face when confronting the thieves.
CBSLA reported that the Nordstrom incidents took place during a rash of smash-and-grab robberies.
Authorities investigated two incidents Sunday on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, where storefronts were damaged but no merchandise was taken.
Also, a robbery crew shot and killed a 23-year-old man outside Bossa Nova Restaurant in Hollywood, CBSLA reported.
The robberies in Southern California were preceded by days of similar crimes in Northern California. Eighty robbers ransacked a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek. Numerous stores in San Francisco's Union Square were either burglarized or vandalized on Friday night, CBSLA reported.