California smash-and-grab at Macy’s occurs at same mall where dozens of looters robbed Nordstrom last year

Authorities in California are investigating a smash-and-grab robbery at a Macy’s in Walnut Creek Saturday morning after three suspects stole high-end watches before fleeing the scene, officials said. 

The Walnut Creek Police Department said “three black male adult suspects” entered the store located in the Broadway Plaza shopping center at approximately 10:48 a.m., when they began “smashing jewelry display cases with hammers.”

The suspects, all wearing hoods and masks to obstruct clear identifying elements, stole the valuables and fled the scene.

Last year, dozens of suspects robbed the Broadway Plaza Nordstrom in what witnesses described as a brazen theft like something “out of a movie.”  

The suspects in Saturday’s robbery were seen fleeing in a white older model 4-door Honda sedan, said WCPD PIO Lieutenant Holley Connors.

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Walnut Creek Police said no Macy’s employees or customers were harmed during the incident.

“Macy’s is still inventorying the loss and estimated cost to repair the damages,” Conners added.

Los Angeles, CA – December 02:  Pictures of recent smash and grabs during a news conference to announce arrests in connection with recent smash-and-grab robberies, and to provide safety measures and prevention tips at the LAPD Headquarters in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 2, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

The WCPD is continuing to investigate the incident and additional details were not provided.

Broadway Plaza is located in Walnut Creek’s downtown area and includes several higher-end stores, including the Nordstrom robbed late last year.

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Between 50 and 80 looters entered the store just before 9 p.m. in late November when they grabbed merchandise and fled, police said.

Armed suspects hold up a Shell Gas Station in Culver City, California on June 11, 2022. 
( Culver City Police Department)

Witnesses described the chaotic robbery as “insane.” 

California has endured a recent plague of smash-and-grab robberies including…

…several smash-and-grabber robbers rushed into a Princess Bride Diamonds jewelry store, located in Bella Terra mall in Huntington Beach before workers physically fought off the would-be thieves.

…robbers broke display cases with hammers at a Kay Jewelers in the Brea Mall, near downtown Los Angeles, before stealing merchandise and fleeing.

…thieves broke into the “Heart of Gold” jewelry store in San Jose before walking out with more than $100,000 worth of merchandise. 

…smash-and-grab robbers made off with $5 million in stolen merchandise from a Beverly Hills jewelry store, Luxury Jewels, after entering the store in broad daylight with sledgehammers. 

…a trio of brazen thieves stole from a Forever 21 at the Los Cerritos Center in Los Angeles and then a Sephora store in the same shopping center.

Some residents have attributed robberies like these to liberal policies enacted by district attorneys.

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District Attorney Diane Becton of Contra Costa County, which includes Walnut Creek, for example, has instructed her own prosecutors to consider looters’ “needs” in theft cases.

One Bay Area jewelry store owner took matters into his own hands and stopped would-be smash-and-grab robbers from taking any merchandise.
(Usman Bhatti)

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Becton also told investigators to determine whether “the theft committed for financial gain or personal need” before charging them, local news outlet East County Today reported.

Anyone with information on the Walnut Creek crime is encouraged to call the WCPD at 925-943-5865.