A group of young thieves walked into the Neiman Marcus store in San Francisco's Union Square on Monday evening and swiped a bunch of expensive handbags in a coordinated heist that's very similar to a string of others on the Peninsula.
It is not yet clear whether this is the same group of suspects, a similar group with some overlap, or a copycat group seizing on a well-publicized opportunistic crime. But their M.O. goes like this: Pull up to a high-end store or shopping center in multiple cars, multiple people get out with facial coverings and hoodies, enter the store as a group and move straight for the designer accessories section, and take whatever you can even if that involves smashing glass cases or yanking security cords out of walls or cases.
In Monday's heist, as KTVU reports, a group of around nine individuals walked into Neiman Marcus just before closing time, at 5:49 p.m. Witnesses said they snatched items from racks and smashed display cases, grabbed handbags under their arms, and escaped into waiting vehicles outside. All the suspects were long gone by the time police arrived.
According to KPIX, six of the suspects were seen on witnesses' cellphone footage running onto Stockton Street, carrying handbags with "anti-theft devices still attached."
That cellphone video appears below:
Just another day in San Francisco as a group of people rob a Neiman Marcus in broad daylight. pic.twitter.com/DIbEgqaqOt
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 6, 2021
A crew of suspects with the same M.O. struck The Real Real retail store in Palo Alto two weeks ago, and in the weeks prior similarly brazen thefts happened at the Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton stores at Stanford Shopping Center.
If this is in fact the same crew or some iteration of it, their first operation happened on the opposite corner of Union Square at Saks Fifth Avenue on May 18.
Each haul from these heists has been estimated between $50,000 and $150,000.
In the Palo Alto heists, police say the getaway cars were different in each one. And no weapons have been used, though in the recent operation at The Real Real, one of the suspects threatened to pull a gun in an apparent effort to intimidate a security guard who chased them, though no gun was ever seen.
No arrests have been made. And as always, police are asking anyone with information to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the message with SFPD.
Previously: Handbag Heist Crew Strikes Again In Palo Alto
Photo courtesy of Neiman Marcus
