The three face charges of robbery, burglary, conspiracy and possession of stolen property, police said. A third person was arrested nearby soon afterward, police said. Police stopped one car and arrested two people, one of whom had a firearm. Video showed people making off with bags and suitcases of merchandise. Connors said there were reports also of people carrying crowbars. Two Nordstrom workers were assaulted, and one was pepper-sprayed by the attackers, police said. Officers arrived “within moments,” joining one who had been working nearby, he said. Nordstrom employees called 911 to report that about 80 people stole merchandise, police said.
People dashed in and out within three minutes and raced away in about two dozen cars that were parked in the middle of the street, many with their license plates covered, Connors said. Three people were arrested in what police called the “organized retail theft” at the Nordstrom in Broadway Plaza.Ĭonnors said people in dark clothing, ski masks and hoods stormed the store “like a flash mob thing” after police began receiving calls about cars driving recklessly nearby just before the 9 p.m. They urged businesses and residents to be prepared and said “some stores may consider closing early or taking other precautions.”
Police tweeted that “out of an abundance of caution,” they were deploying more officers and reserves. Walnut Creek police called the Nordstrom assault “clearly a planned event.” Sources told police the same group of thieves might strike again at retail stores, though the information was “very vague,” said Lt. Camarillo also had no information about possible ties between the San Jose incident and others. Ormsby said Hayward police had no information yet to suggest the robbery was linked to other cases. San Francisco police were investigating possible links among the brazen heists.Įarlier Sunday, San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca said, “Our investigators will be looking into the Walnut Creek incident” for possible connections to the Union Square mayhem.
Google Street View Show More Show Lessīay Area retailers were on alert after groups of thieves rushed a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek on Saturday night and then hit stores at malls in Hayward and San Jose on Sunday, stealing merchandise in the wake of Friday’s ransacking of high-end retailers in San Francisco’s Union Square. Stores in San Francisco were burglarized Friday, followed by Nordstrom in Walnut Creek on Saturday. Google Street View Show More Show Less 3 of3Ī large group of thieves raided retailers at Southland Mall in Hayward on Sunday night.
Danielle Echeverria/The Chronicle 2021 Show More Show Less 2 of3Ībout 80 people rushed into this Nordstrom department store in Walnut Creek, stealing merchandise in what police said was “organized retail theft.” Three people were arrested. 20, 2021, after thieves ransacked the San Francisco business the night before. Union Square visitors look at damage to the Louis Vuitton store on Saturday, Nov.