Group of up to 50 people shoplift about $100K worth of luxury items from L.A. mall; used bear spray against guards
Group of up to 50 people shoplift about $100K worth of luxury items from L.A. mall; used bear spray against guards
Between 30 to 50 people swarmed the Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, making off with thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags and high-end clothing, an LAPD spokesman told NBC News.
Between 30 to 50 people swarmed the Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, making off with thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags and high-end clothing, an LAPD spokesman told NBC News.
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LOL why are they calling it "shoplifting" this isn't some bored kid stuffing a shirt under their clothes. This is an organized raid.
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They even mention the use of bear spray. That alone turned it from being shoplifting to a robbery. Since now there's the inclusion of violence and/or threat of violence
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Yep, from what I understand: Larceny (illegal taking and asportation of an item or items) + Assault = Robbery
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I know why
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It makes me laugh how many people think this is a new development only in CA and in 2023.
This happened back in the 90s to my mom while working retail. Like 10 people came in and carried off the furniture they had in the store, because they knew the employees were instructed not to do anything.
Shit like this has been happening all over the US for decades, the media just decided it was the hot new topic to get more clicks recently. Even the Walgreens CEO who said theft was so awful they had to close a bunch of stores later admitted they "cried wolf".
Rich people love the idea that theft is out of control in the media because it gives them a talking point to keep us peasants in control. Starbucks was charged by the labor board for closing down unionizing stores under the guise of "safety concerns". Starbucks isn't the only place that has been pulling that shit.
And that's not to say I agree with 50 people bear spraying people and stealing luxury shit either. This isn't someone stealing food from the grocery store to feed their kids. It wasn't billionaires working in the store, it's people working a shitty retail job for shitty pay no doubt. But it is a topic being overblown for rich people's benefit.
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The biggest theft is wage theft. But nobody cares because is ok to stole from someone that is poorer that you.
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but what about
No one cares about the fact that they stole some overpriced pirses dumbass, were calling them pieces of shit because they ran in and bear sprayed people who would have never intervened in the first place. The people doing this have no concept of class solidarity and the whole reason they're stealing in the first place is for posturing, it has nothing to do with "sending a message"
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Same energy as people removed about the homeless in SF and Portland. It's like have you seen our downtown bro, there's a tent city
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I used to work at a dollar store back in the day, and I was warned that this guy comes in every few weeks and grabs a bunch of jackets then runs out the back door.
No shit like clockwork it happened.
I was warned not to engage and just call the cops. My first time, I was in the back taking a shit in the bathroom next to the rear emergency exit. I heard the alarm go off and jumped up, pulled up my pants and ran out to catch him. He ran out back, I ran out after him. He pulled a gun on me and I learned my lesson. Let the dude have the jackets. Got it.
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It's changed recently to be far more organized. Crime goes in cycles though, catalytic converter and retail rings are just the big ones right now.
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This isn't someone stealing food from the grocery store to feed their kids.. But it is a topic being overblown for rich people's benefit.
How is it overblown? It is a real issue with law enforcement in America. People are being permitted to destroy and steal property. We need to get to the root cause of what’s going on their. It’s due to failures on multiple fronts. You can’t just say ignore it because capitalism bad. Capitalism is a founding principle of this country’s economy. You can’t play the card that these people are protesting corruption because others are enriching themselves by stealing goods. That’s not noble in any way and doesn’t help employees.
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Fuck the founding principles. The "founding principles" of this shithole have been letting nepo babies, clay-footed 'philanthropists', grifters, and con artists rob the common man for 400+ years. And the 'rise of criminality'(fuckin lmao, okay settler) will only get worse the more the common are robbed. The 'root cause' is the elites being 'elite'; and there is really no way you're gonna get me to condemn actions like what these raiders took in this day and age.
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It's also "over $100k" if you believe that cheaply made stuff is worth that price.
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Nordstrom is a store I go to when I need a laugh. Their prices are the peak of comedy.
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Nordstrom will put high end goods near brands that are more affordable. It's like having an expensive bottle of wine on the menu so the customer doesn't feel so bad about paying 50 bucks. If you need to laugh go to a genuine luxury store and the prices are insane. Like $10k for a back pack nuts.
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My Ex used to work in Saks 5th Avenue, so I would often browse around while waiting for them. I once saw a short sleeve button up shirt on the clearance rack that I really liked. It was $175 after the discount. I never seriously shopped in there after that.
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Also this is just 2k per person who would risk that?!
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This country is so cutthroat capitalist that now even the consumers are becoming predatory.
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This is organized crime.
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Loosely by definition sure, but not real organized crime
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Looks like run of the mill theft to me. Sure, perpetrated by a lot of people at once, but without proof of a legitimate business operating as a money laundering front for the proceeds of the fenced goods, this isn't organized crime.
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"Keep those wages low, the poors will never do anything about it"
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“I’m poor so I’m not responsible for stealing luxury goods and bear spraying minimum wage security guards.”
I grew up poor. I didn’t do this. Your comment is dripping with the implicit accusation that poor people are basically just animals. Incapable of controlling themselves when they see nice handbags.
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Poverty doesn’t affect everyone the same. To try to discount the fact that poverty increases crime just because you aren’t a criminal is ignoring the complexity of humanity.
To say that this particular crime was caused by poverty also ignores the complexity of humanity.
We can all speculate until we’re blue in the face, but I agree that lessening poverty will lessen crime of most types.
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Of course poor people aren’t “basically just animals”, the OP didn’t imply that. What the OP is saying is that when genuine opportunity doesn’t exist, some people will find their own opportunity and/or weigh the consequences of their actions differently.
Wealth and income disparity have consequences and this is one of them. Public unrest is another eventual outcome. Something needs to be done about it or something will be done about it.
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Coming soon in America: Mall cops with guns!
Sign up now for our 1 week certification program to be ready for your exciting career!
Do you:
Believe property has intrinsic value beyond the arbitrary price placed on it by the producer?
Believe that value is higher than that of a human life?
Really want to shoot someone to prove your devotion to property?
Believe harsh punishment up to and including death is a deterrent to crime?
Head over to your local mall’s security office and sign up today!
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Your comment is on the nose.
I have had many arguments with people over the fact you shouldn't want to shoot someone over property. I'm a gun owner but I don't carry a gun and I don't believe a life is worth less than property. The amount of people I know who carry a gun and have said they would shot someone for stealing is incredibly high and troubling.
I don't know if it is a direct result of the daily dehumanization of ethnic groups and criminals we are bombarded with all day long everyday or if it is much more complex but there is a real problem in the US when large groups of people don't value other people's lives.
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Once you use threats and violence to steal other's property, you open yourself to bodily harm. Simple as.
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I don't believe a life is worth less than property.
I don’t understand the disconnect some people have when it comes to property. Property (and money) is a store of my time. My literal life. I worked for a year to be able to afford my car. You think someone else is entitled to steal an entire year of my life? That’s as close to endorsement of slavery as it gets. Do I think another should be permitted to steal my life? Absolutely not, under any circumstances. I don’t want to kill anyone, and I’ll give them a warning, but I would absolutely defend my life.
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Imagine being an oblivious shopper trying out clothes in the change room, eventually coming out with your selections, only emerging to a store that looks like a hurricane went through it.
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Unintentionally direct action
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The mace part isn't great but otherwise I say go get it.
This is nothing compared to what these corpos stole from us.
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And how they treat the laborers that make the clothing.
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this is a rich-to-poor wealth transfer
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Could do without the can-to-face bear spray transfer though.
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Pobody's Nerfect
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Malls? They still have those?
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It's really only these super luxury ones left that are doing well.
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Good
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They maced people
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The kids grew up learning heists on gta online, I for one approve of this well coordinated maneuvering against the establishment that steals from its people every day.
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Based, when cost of living is too high, lifting becomes an inevitability. You've heard of the 'invisible hand of the market', now meet the 'ignored voice of the market'. If piracy is a service problem-- and it is-- then it's only logical that shoplifting is a societal problem.
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When they steal food, I cheer. When they steal jewelry and snearks and whatnot I lol
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Doesn't matter what they steal. If it's food, it's for their stomach. If it's luxury, it's to resell. Either way, it's not my place to condemn how someone survives and thrives in this fuck of a late-stage capitalist existence.
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Cosigned!
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Flash mobs doing shoplifting should be the new TikTok trend, can’t stop everyone.
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Will somebody think of the housewives?!
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Ban all mainstream social media
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Good for them. :)
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Please do not downvote people you disagree with if they're contributing to the conversation.
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For better or for worse, I think this ship has sailed.
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💀
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They don't matter on an individual level. They do matter for keeping relevant content at the top.
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Good for them.
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No, fuck them for harming somebody.
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I suppose people in California get the kind of society they vote for.
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A society where a store can sell $2k purses made in sweatshops by children in the 3rd world while its own veterans languish with addiction and PTSD problems brought on by the ever-more-unsustainable quest for cheap oil?
That's a fucked society right there.
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This doesn't really effect Californians though, except that security guard, rip. The only people it effects is the owners of Nordstrom who lost $500 of stuff they bought from Vietnam.
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This happens all over the country all the times I experienced it several times in 2004 to 2007 at one retail store.
In that case it was organized Columbia gangs associated with human trafficking, coyotes would bring people to America and then force them to shoplift. They all arrive at the same time in stolen cars. The car key is left on top of a wheel in the parking lot in case the driver is caught. There wasn't a department store loss prevention employee in the Northeast that didn't know about Columbians.
But hey if you're gullible and love corporate media, do your thing. They never leak the videos of them doing wage theft.
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