A group of five people swarmed a Nike display in Macy’s on Monday afternoon, April 14, and ran out of the store with 40 items of clothing worth $1100, according to Sgt. Darin Ryburn of the Burbank Police Department.
At 5:18 p.m. Monday, Macy’s loss prevention department was monitoring the floors of the department store, located in the Town Center Mall, when an officer noticed a group of five people enter the store and start looking around, said Ryburn.
The people went to a Nike display in the “Petites” section of the store and the loss prevention officer noticed one suspect grab three Nike shirts and set them on a nearby clothes rack. The officer left his post to go check on the situation, but by the time he arrived at the display, the group had left the area.
Another store employee had observed the group enter the store and saw two additional suspects grabbing shorts and clothing items. When the loss was tallied, 20 Nike shirts and 20 Nike shorts had been stolen.
The group fled the department, went down the escalator and out in to the mall. Loss prevention officers did not pursue the group.
The suspects are described as four male Blacks and one female Black, all 20-25 years old and of normal height and weight, about 5’7″ to 5’9″ and 160 to 170 pounds, said Ryburn. They had dark hair and some in the group were wearing baseball caps.
This incident is reminiscent of recent “flash mob thefts” being reported in the news, added Ryburn.
Burbank police encourage anyone with additional information about this incident to contact the BPD Detective Bureau at 818-238-3210.
