Mob robberies continue at luxury stores in Los Angeles

A series of mob robberies continued in Los Angeles as organized groups seized expensive merchandise in pre-Thanksgiving raids on stores in the Beverly Center as well as a Nordstrom in Canoga Park.

A security guard was attacked with bear spray as multiple people entered Nordstrom at Westfield Topanga & The Village shopping center in Canoga Park Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department said. in a press release.

In interviews with local television stations, LAPD Deputy Director Alan Hamilton indicated that the thieves made off with several luxury bags.

Hamilton told CBS Los Angeles that additional officers had been dispatched to the mall, but the robbers were able to evade them.

Los Angeles police were also investigating a similar incident in which groups entered several stores at the Beverly Center on Wednesday, grabbed merchandise and ran.

Officers were looking for leads to catch those involved, the news release noted.

The robberies came two days after an organized group stormed a Nordstrom in The Grove shopping center, smashing a window and stealing thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise.

Los Angeles police arrested three suspects in connection with that incident. Agents recovered several articles of clothing, at least one cash register and gloves from the suspects' vehicle.

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On Tuesday, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Police Commission that the department would step up patrols and dedicate resources to some high-profile locations to deter a wave of mob robberies.

In another robbery Monday, six people entered a CVS pharmacy in the 5800 block of South Vermont Avenue in South Los Angeles and robbed three cash registers, taking about $8,500 in cash, according to police.

On Sunday, thieves used a sledgehammer to try to break into the windows of Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Beverly Hills.

They were unable to enter the stores and did not take anything, according to police.

In Contra Costa County, District Attorney Diana Becton announced Wednesday that three individuals have been arrested and charged with involvement in a robbery in which about 90 people broke into a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek on Nov. 20, using three different inputs.

By parking 25 cars in front of the store, the group stole more than $100,000 in about a minute, according to a criminal complaint.

One Nordstrom employee was pepper-sprayed, another was assaulted with a knife and two other employees were beaten, according to the complaint.

Dana Dawson, 30, Joshua Underwood, 32, and Rodney Robinson, 19, were arrested by the Walnut Creek Police Department and charged with conspiracy, burglary, robbery and organized department store theft.

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