Just a day after San Francisco's spree of rampant looting, the Nordstrom in Walnut Creek's Broadway Plaza saw over six dozen people plunder the luxury goods store last night.
Saturday evening around 9 p.m., an estimated 80 looters allegedly swarmed into the Nordstrom store in downtown Walnut Creek — taking off with massive amounts of merchandise and clearing out entire shelves before fleeing in several vehicles that were idling outside. Other cars were seen parked elsewhere around the shopping plaza with no one inside them; those cars might've been used to make it harder for police to reach the scene of the crime.
They really hit up Nordstrom in Walnut Creek (California). That’s a lot of heads too. pic.twitter.com/DO1gy85kYe
— Jermaine (@JermaineWatkins) November 21, 2021
But that didn't deter Walnut Creek police officers from descending on the area. Unlike the smash-and-grab event that saw SF's Union Square Louis Vuitton store left with broken street-facing windows, no large panels of glass were smashed during the Nordstrom grab-and-go robbery. However, police reports note that several display cases were destroyed.
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The whole scene was described by eyewitnesses as completely chaotic — "something like out of a movie."
“I probably saw like 50-80 people in ski masks, crowbars, a bunch of weapons," said one witness of the crime to KRON4. "They were looting the Nordstrom right here. Usually, it’s really busy, and I thought they were gonna start beating cars. I had to start locking the front door. It was crazy."
ABC7 reported that at least three people have been arrested in relation to the crime, all of which are between 18 and 32 years old; Walnut Creek police also noted that a firearm was recovered from one of the suspects.
Please see the attached press release. pic.twitter.com/2wVmeU84yi
— Walnut Creek PD (@walnutcreekpd) November 21, 2021
A report from the Walnut Creek Police Department describes that two employees were assaulted, one of them subjected to pepper spray. The investigation is still ongoing; anyone with information on the event is encouraged to contact "Detective Deng" at deng@walnutcreekpd.com.
The Walnut Creek Nordstrom ransacking comes just one day after San Francisco saw citywide looting, which left Union Square's Louis Vuitton location, as well as other stores — among them, per the Chronicle, included Burberry and Bloomingdale's stores in the Westfield mall, Jins Eyewear on Powell street, the Yves Saint Laurent store on Geary Street, and the Walgreens location on Market Street — with empty shelves.
It's unclear if those crimes were organized in tandem or not.
Related: [Update] Multiple Union Square Stores Hit By Smash-and-Grab Burglars Friday
Top Photo: Trac Vu