The lawsuit claims LDR loaned King's company more than $10 million under the understanding she was in turn generating loans with those funds to well-heeled clients who had expensive assets to put up as collateral. "They didnt even run out, they walked out," Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. jails on $200K bail. "And so, thats sending a message that we, the criminals, are winning.". Jerretta Sandoz told CBS LA of the incident. ", Retail thefts have gotten the bulk of the attention on social media because of the string of videos. Donning ski masks, the mob ran off with thousands of dollars of merchandise. After Nordstrom robbery in California, will other retailers be next? Holding people accountable for their crimes is decried as a form of racism, as is incarcerating anyone. With Black Friday and the start of Christmas shopping season, retailers say they're worried more robberies may be on the horizon. The state has recorded increased levels of retail theft every year since prop 47 was passed. Business owners and security officials in San Francisco, for example, are decrying the "lawlessness" in the city over shoplifting. All rights reserved. They cant go in and do smash-and-grab because nothing is smashing for them to grab.. But if you enter a bank or a store intending to commit forgeryfor example, by cashing or creating a forged checkyou can also face charges for PC 459. As the state enters another potential drought emergency, we need to ensure that this new activity does not further exacerbate water scarcity, Barger said in a statement to CNN. Unfortunately, it is not just shoplifting in San Francisco that is getting headlines, though San Franciscos out-of-control drug problem makes this issue much worse than it otherwise would be. Why is shoplifting so rampant? A shoplifting incident involving 80 people accused of grabbing items and rushing out of a Nordstrom store in California in under a minute Saturday night is among the worst such episodes theyve heard of, two longtime police officers say. Boudin said Bay Area prosecutors are collaborating "toshare information and develop strategies to combat" organized and grab-and-go thefts. One alleged victim describes King as like a family member. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to John Nores status with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marijuana Enforcement team. Two men in a Los Angeles suburb were seen on camera brazenly leaving a TJ Maxx store with their arms full of shoplifted items. Water pressure in the area north of Los Angeles dropped so low at one point, it caused the system to fail, said Anish Saraiya, public works deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. This includes death row inmate Richard Allen Davis, one of 737 murderers in About 80 looters descended on the Nordstrom at about 9 p.m. in the citys Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek police said. City officials released a midyear public safety report, which, according to police data, showed that overall thefts were down by 9 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year. "The evidence seems to be mounting that Prop 47 is not the culprit here or at least not the key culprit," Kubrin said, adding that criminal justice reforms have "become a scapegoat" to blame for the perception of high crime. Over the past three years, the task forces 668 investigations included 252 arrests and the recovery of more than $16.3 billion in stolen merchandise. Through the end of June, 125 Californians reported water thefts to state authorities more than twice as many as a decade ago. Failing to lead. Police said over a dozen people in Chicago stole about $120,000 of items from a Louis Vuitton store on Nov. 17. All rights reserved. In 2014, California adopted Proposition 47, which made thefts of $950 or less a misdemeanor. Forgery in most cases is a California wobbler. Sara King's former employer is suing the sultry swindler for allegedly funding her lavish lifestyle and a Vegas gambling binge with their money. She can't believe the 39-year-old attorney, who ran a high-end loan company, would scam her out of thousands of dollars. Walgreens says its San Francisco stores experience a level of theft five times the national average. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The LAPD was also investigating a similar incident in which groups entered several stores in the Beverly Center on Wednesday, grabbed merchandise and ran out. Walgreens announced last month that it would close five stores in San Francisco because of organized retail theft. Walnut Creek police said three people were arrested in connection with Saturday nights incident. In 2020 alone, nearly 650,000 people left California for other states about 210,000 more than moved to California from elsewhere in the U.S. This all started with the passage of Proposition 47. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. California could be so much better than it is with sensible policy changes that reduce business costs, reduce housing costs, provide reliable water during drought years, prevent wildfires, and. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Therefore, it is important to have legal representation to help defend the individual in instances where shoplifting did not occur. In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on July 22, 2021. The result: Another Walgreens store in San Francisco, the seventh this year, is closing after its shelves were cleared by looters. Misdemeanor charges can still lead to no more than 6 months of jail time. Hoover scholars form the Institutions core and create breakthrough ideas aligned with our mission and ideals. It has shuttered 17 already and last month announced five more closures, including the one hit by the man on the bike (who was finally arrested after robbing the store one too many times). This is a polity deciding that it is more important to stay its own hand from arresting and jailing criminals than to protect businesses from getting robbed, protect duly employed people from having to watch cretins flout the law and protect neighborhoods from losing retail outlets that they depend on. Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society. A shoplifting incident involving 80 people accused of grabbing items and rushing out of a Nordstrom store in California in under a minute Saturday night is among WebPenal Code 459.5 PC defines the California crime of shoplifting as entering a commercial establishment during regular business hours with the intentto steal Most walk in, go about their pilfering, and then walk out, though at least one thief rode their bike into the store and departed the same way, carefully navigating their two-wheeler down a narrow aisle. Google Shoplifting in San Francisco and you will find more than 100,000 hits. In October, the California Attorney General's Office announced breaking up a major theft ring in the Bay Area in which $8 million worth of merchandise was allegedly swiped from Target, CVS and Walgreens, and then sold in other countries with the earnings laundered back to the United States. And that makes a difference because they have to be willing to do that.". Check this out people running out of a Neiman Marcus with fancy handbags into waiting cars. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Jacob Ward, a technology correspondent for NBC News, is a 2018-19 Berggruen Fellow at Stanford Universitys Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, where he is writing a book about how artificial intelligence will shape human behavior. Danielle Echeverria/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. Sandoz, who serves as vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said she blames the incident on Prop 47, a 2014 referendum that lowered criminal sentences on crimes such as shoplifting. California Wobbler Crimes: Misdemeanor or Felony? Modern societies long ago figured out how to maintain civil order such that law-abiding people could buy and sell goods without being systematically preyed on by thieves. Creating a political moment to sign an almost meaningless shoplifting crime bill that rarely will be enforced. Because of this law, California is extending an open invitation to anyone to walk in and take. In Palo Alto, police said two women were arrested after 30 to 40 people tried to break the glass door to a downtown boutique Sunday night. You cant turn a profit when people keep showing up and emptying your shelves without paying. California Theft Laws: Petty Theft, Grand Theft, & Shoplifting. Shoplifting is usually treated If you do, we'll connect you to a qualified lawyer today. Most petty thefts are charged as misdemeanors , which carry a sentence of up to six Homicides in Los Angeles rose 40 percent to 332, and they rose 35 percent to 285 in San Francisco. "They care about what's happening in their backyard.". Data shows that after Prop 47 passed, shoplifting and thefts increased. Were not seeing something new here thats a result of the riots and looting, though the trend has definitely ramped up this year. Even in cases where they do manage to catch somebody stealing, its too often not worth the trouble of taking them down to the station because theyll just be released immediately without bail anyway. 35. A Newport Beach attorney stands accused of living the high life in a Las Vegas casino for six months, spending and gambling away more than $10 million of other people's money. Related: California Theft Laws: Petty Theft, Grand Theft, & Shoplifting. But San Francisco isn't the only city to grapple with the problem: In Seattle, police said last month they made more than 50 arrests linked to coordinated thefts at nine large retailers and grocery stores, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the state's top prosecutor, police and big-box stores announced a partnership this month to combat "organized retail crime.". Series of high-end store robberies: 'Mob of people' storms, robs California Nordstrom, 'Sad day for San Francisco': Walgreens closing 5 more San Francisco stores due to organized shoplifting. "The statistics are counter to the narrative," Scott said at a news conference, while also recognizing that some crimes may go unreported. Criminal justice experts say if California officials agree that moving away from mass incarceration and toward decriminalization of low-level offenses is imperative, then it's important to go after the bosses and co-conspirators rather than focusing on the shoplifters themselves, who may be paid juveniles and homeless people, according to officials. Donning ski masks, the mob ran off with thousands of dollars of merchandise people! The mob ran off with thousands of dollars of merchandise King 's former employer is suing the swindler., we 'll connect you to a qualified lawyer today and you will find more than moved to from! 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