Los Angeles-area looters target Home Depot, Bottega Veneta stores on Black Friday: reports

Officials in California sent word earlier this week that they planned to crack down on "smash and grab" robberies and flash-mob-style looting after numerous recent incidents up and down the state.

But apparently not everybody got the message.

At least two such incidents occurred in Los Angeles County on Black Friday, according to reports.

In Lakewood, a group of suspects ages 15 to 20 stormed a Home Depot store around 8:30 p.m. and grabbed tools such as crowbars, mallets and sledgehammers before getting away in vehicles that were waiting outside, FOX 11 of Los Angeles reported.

One entire section of hammers was completely cleared out, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies told the station.

As many as 10 vehicles pulled up outside the store and the thieves donned ski masks before launching their spree, KCBS-TV of Los Angeles reported.

The theft prompted fears that the stolen tools would be used to commit more robberies at other stores in the area, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the station.

Also Friday, in the Beverly Grove section of Los Angeles, a large group entered a Bottega Veneta store and used pepper spray against some who tried to stop them while grabbing high-end merchandise there, the station reported.

It was unclear how the suspects were able to enter the store or if police made any arrests, the station reported.

Earlier in the week, Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore told the city’s Police Commission that a heightened police presence would be in place within city limits on Black Friday to combat "smash and grab" robberies and flash-mob style crimes that have struck California and other locations in recent weeks.

The LAPD planned to be "dedicating resources to some of these higher-end locations to deter further acts of violence," Moore told the panel Tuesday, according to FOX 11.

Also Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called such crimes "unacceptable" during an interview with FOX 2 of the Bay Area.

Like Moore in Los Angeles, Newsom vowed a stronger police presenc... (Read more)

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