"This is like a nightmare," Yumiko Sturdivant said. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. "She stole from normal people like me. In San Francisco, there is no attempt to conceal theft, and there is almost never any effort by store employees, including security personnel, to confront the thieves. A bill moving through the state Legislature and supported by the California Retailers Association would renew and fund the Organized Retail Crime Task Force through the end of 2025, focusing on "ringleaders and conspirators of these criminal networks and not the low-level petty thief." The following individuals will not qualify for sentencing under California Law: The resentencing will not happen for those who the judge determines as a risk to public safety. "Nobody cares about big broad statistics," she said. Why wont store employees do anything about this theft? This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. You cant turn a profit when people keep showing up and emptying your shelves without paying. But chains say even more drastic measures are required. With Black Friday and the start of Christmas shopping season, retailers say they're worried more robberies may be on the horizon. WaPo: FBI resisted Mar-a-Lago raid, DoJ prosecutors demanded it. WebCalifornia will allow 63,000 prisoners, out of a population of 115,000, the possibility of early release. 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. The result: Another Walgreens store in San Francisco, the seventh this year, is closing after its shelves were cleared by looters. Homicides in Los Angeles rose 40 percent to 332, and they rose 35 percent to 285 in San Francisco. California Theft Laws: Petty Theft, Grand Theft, & Shoplifting. San Francisco, and the larger Bay Area, now could easily claim the title of Shoplifting Capital of the USA should it want the honor. These increases put the spotlight on Californias recent legal change that provides shorter sentences for prisoners, including violent felons, largely because of budgetary issues (California prison costs are among the highest in the country at $81,000 annually per prisoner), and also on Newsoms decision to suspend the states death penalty law via executive order. another Walgreens has closed its doors permanently, DeSantis to DA: Give me all your documentation on why you allowed the Pine Hills shooter to remain on the street, Joe Biden's "9,000 unused drilling permits" lie, GAO: FBI, Capitol Police failed to share information of threats before January 6 riot. All Rights Reserved. "The statistics are counter to the narrative," Scott said at a news conference, while also recognizing that some crimes may go unreported. All Rights Reserved. WebCops and prosecutors are at odds over Proposition 47, a 2014 referendum that lowered the penalty for stealing goods worth less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor. And that makes a difference because they have to be willing to do that.". KFSN Fresno News also reported on August 19 that two men were arrested for mail theft. 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 And you will find lots of YouTube videos, where you can watch a single thief, or an entire gang, walk into an SF Walgreens or CVS and empty the shelves. You wont believe it this guy loads merchandise from a Walgreens into a big trash bag and jumps on his bike to ride down the aisle and out of the store. Nissan Altima - Number of Thefts: 13,284 7. And if you are one of those who identify Neiman Marcus with Needless Markup, well, now you know: those markups help cover the cost of theft insurance and stolen merchandise, costs that are passed on to those who choose to acquire merchandise the old-fashioned wayby paying for it. Donning ski masks, the mob ran off with thousands of dollars of merchandise. WebThe suspect then turned and fired at a U-Haul van whose driver returned fire, killing Moser, the sheriff's office said in news release posted on its Facebook page Tuesday. Governor Newsom recently signed a new law in which shoplifting is a felony, even if it is below the $950 limit, ifand this is a big ifthe theft is part of an organized ring with the intent to sell the stolen goods. It ought to be possible to operate a retail store in one of Americas largest and most iconic cities, but this most basic commercial proposition is in doubt in San Francisco. Sadly, this is Gavin Newsom. This includes death row inmate Richard Allen Davis, one of 737 murderers in Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association, said her organization sponsored the legislation in the hope that it could stem the tide of rising theft. Its just that the Bay Area has chosen to forget. The New York City crew which typically consists of four thieves riding two mopeds have stolen a total of 21 pairs of the Apple headphones since the robberies began. Discovery Company. The incident, which remains under investigation, was only the latest to give an impression of lawlessness running rampant in San Francisco's stores, where people have been caught on recordings openly swiping products seemingly without repercussion. Multiple shoplifters in California were seen brazenly stealing from a Marshalls location as the crime continues in the state. WebPeretz Klein, 68, of Spring Valley was sentenced to 48 months in prison in July and must repay $1.14 million for stealing millions of dollars from the program. The landscape of shoplifting and petty theft jurisprudence in California has shifted dramatically in recent years, largely due to Proposition 47, which voters approved in 2014. When more is stolen, the charge is referred to as wobbler meaning prosecutors can choose whether they would like to pursue a felony or misdemeanor charge. All rights reserved. Sturdivant says King convinced her to loan her company thousands of dollars, promising a quick return on her investment - one that never materialized. A California woman has been arrested and charged with grand theft after allegedly stealing more than $320,000 in merchandise from local retail stores. In reality, the lawsuit claims there was no collateral and no secondary loans. "Think about these employees in these stores who are a witness to these crimes. The shoplifting was clearly a planned event, police said. Districts attorneys from several Bay Area counties met Tuesday to discuss solutions to the spree of thefts. 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. What sets Hoover apart from all other policy organizations is its status as a center of scholarly excellence, its locus as a forum of scholarly discussion of public policy, and its ability to bring the conclusions of this scholarship to a public audience. 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.". "But the problem is bigger than our city. Business owners and security officials in San Francisco, for example, are decrying the "lawlessness" in the city over shoplifting. All of us knew it was coming, longtime customer Sebastian Luke told the San Francisco Chronicle. WebPenal Code 459.5 PC defines the California crime of shoplifting as entering a commercial establishment during regular business hours with the intentto steal Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Robbery About 80 looters descended on the Nordstrom at about 9 p.m. in the citys Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek police said. Why? Located on the campus of Stanford University and in Washington, DC, the Hoover Institution is the nations preeminent research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity, national security, and democratic governance. "If theyre caught, theyre probably given the equivalent of a traffic ticket," she told CBS LA. The steepest rise has been seen in whats referred to as mass grab and dash robberies, where crowds of people meet up and enter a business all at once and begin grabbing everything they can carry and running out. Shoplifting is usually treated Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. San Francisco police didnt respond to a request for comment or updated theft statistics Monday. To reclassify a conviction, the reclassification must occur with the original judge who presided over the initial conviction. Both CVS and Walgreens say shoplifting in San Francisco outpaces thefts at their stores across the country. As the extreme drought emergency continues in California, thieves are making off with billions of gallons of water. An individual must file the resentencing petition within three years since the law was passed and in the original court where the felony theft charge was convicted. "Let me tell you she didn't only steal from a billionaire," Sturdivant said. Legal Statement. "The balance here is to provide a measure of public safety ensuring consumers will not get caught in the middle of a theft in progress by giving law enforcement adequate resources to dismantle organized retail crime operations before they can plot a crime spree," Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles, said. Ahmad Rahmaan, 25, and 28-year-old Tylise Bell, of Los Angeles, are being held in O.C. The video was recently filmed at a TJ Maxx in Granada Hills and shows two men leaving the store with their arms packed with clothing and other items, with one of the men carrying a large duffle bag that appears to be full of items. In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on July 22, 2021. "Some people calculate, 'Hey, you know, I don't want to go over the $950, so let me steal $949 worth of property,'" Scott said. After publication of this story, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the department could not verify figures Nores provided on arrests and the amount of water stolen, but added that the department had made 95 arrests last year for illegal marijuana grow operations, many of which had diverted water for their plants. People are stealing water as an extreme drought continues to leave The Golden State dry. 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. 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. New York City famously re-established order in the 1990s based on broken windows policing, or a focus on offenses that degraded the quality of life; San Francisco and similar locales are engaged in broken windows neglect the broken windows being at high-end stores struck by emboldened robbers. Fischer was wounded in the dognapping and five people in total have been charged in connection with the theft. Moreover, a confrontation within the store risks harming not only store staff but also customers, so employees are almost certainly instructed by their managers to do nothing. WebWhen most people think of burgling, they think of breaking into a building intending to steal something. If a felony charge is pursued, the maximum jail time is 3 years, and a fine could be up to $10,000. ", Retail thefts have gotten the bulk of the attention on social media because of the string of videos. 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