Smash-and-grab robbery rings organise on social media, California attorney general says

People walk past a boarded storefront window following recent robberies near Union Square in San Francisco on Dec 2, 2021. Bonta said the group crimes are rooted in a kind of organised crime. — AP

It looked like chaos when groups of young people dashed from cars into the Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco’s Union Square and ran off with luxury purses, bags, and designer wear.

A few days later, about 80 people stormed through a Walnut Creek mall, stealing expensive items before fleeing. At LA’s Grove shopping mall not long after, a smaller group used sledgehammers on a Nordstrom.