This is the shocking moment thieves smashed their way into a Beverly Hills wig shop and stole tens of thousands of dollars worth meant for cancer patients.
The brazen heist was carried out by three masked miscreants around 3:30am, and saw The Wig Fairy on La Cienega ruthlessly ransacked.
The perpetrators are seen shattering the business’s glass storefront with poles and rocks before grabbing multiple wigs meant for those undergoing chemotherapy.
The full financial damage wrought by the robbery – the latest in a string of robberies affecting The Golden State – remains to be seen.
Staffers left horrified by the senseless strike said each piece took weeks to create, and had been valued between $1,000 and $4,000.
The robbers, meanwhile, are believed to be women, and serve as the most recent culprits to participate in an ongoing spate of organized looting that surfaced during the pandemic but has since worsened, largely due to persisting, progressive laws.
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A group of thieves were filmed smashing their way into a Beverly Hills business this week, before making off with tens of thousands of dollars worth of wigs meant for cancer patients
The early morning heist saw The Wig Fairy on La Cienega ruthlessly ransacked, and is the latest in a string of ‘smash and grab’ style robberies affecting Southern California
A new breed of organized crime being branded has been the result – which just last week as a group of at least 30 ransack a Nordstrom not far from the Wig Fairy.
In that instance, the group made off with some $300,000 worth of merchandise, and made headlines after their heist was also recorded and shared for all to see.
The owner an operator of The Wig Fairy for the past 12 years, Mona Zargar on Tuesday questioned how anyone could bring themselves to steal products intended for those suffering from one of the world’s worst afflictions.
‘They come to us and say, ‘Please make me look like myself,” she told NBC-4 Tuesday after closing her store to assess what was stolen and straighten out orders for affected patrons – working around the clock to do so.
‘How do I explain to them that I don’t have a wig for you?’ she said, remarking how the took more than just inventory from her dozens of loyal customers.
‘We had to make such heartfelt phone calls today. Calling clients and letting them know that ‘I’m so sorry that you’ve waited but I can no longer ship you the wig and I need you to wait again’… which is not normally the answer.’
She went on to cite the time-sensitive nature of her clients’ orders, and the fact that each piece – made of 100 percent human hair – take weeks to create.
‘We do color them to match their skin tones to what their natural hair looks,’ the shop owner said, appearing emotional during the filmed interview, where several of her painstaking creations could be seen hanging in the background.
‘We cut them according to their face shape we cut them to fit their heads.’
She added of the aforementioned time constraints: ‘If someone is going through treatment, they’re expecting their hair to fall out pretty much on the second treatment. So they don’t have time to wait.’
Still-at-large, the perpetrators are seen shattering the business’s glass storefront with poles and rocks before gaining entry, and mercilessly grabbing multiple wigs meant for those undergoing chemotherapy by the handful
Staffers left horrified by the senseless strike said each piece took weeks to create, and had been valued between $1,000 and $4,000
The full financial damage wrought by the robbery – the latest in a string of robberies affecting The Golden State – remains to be seen, but it was enough to see the store closed the next day
The robbers are believed to be women, police said and serve as the most recent culprits to participate in an ongoing spate of organized looting that surfaced during the pandemic but has since worsened, largely due to persisting, progressive laws
The owner an operator of The Wig Fairy for the past 12 years, Mona Zargar on Tuesday questioned how anyone could bring themselves to steal products intended for those suffering from one of the world’s worst afflictions
Shortly before chiding the three culprits seen in the footage, Zagar shared a post to her store’s social media profiles confirming it would be closed Tuesday, with tentative plans of opening again on Wednesday.
The statement read: ‘Unfortunately our salon was broken into this morning. We assure you that we’re working tirelessly to get your orders and the salon back on track.
‘Although our doors will be closed today. Please feel free to call us or message us with any questions. We hope to resume regular operation hours Wednesday 8/23.’
The store has since reopened – but the current climate that caused its closure remains.
Further incidents have occurred at a luxury denim store in Gabcock Park, a Nike Store in East LA and a Gucci store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
Many of the stores targeted have been high-end retailers, with robbers hauls resultingly often exceeding $100,000.
Few arrests have been made in connection with the flash robberies, and officials by and large have blamed policies enacted the local DA, George Gascón, whose policies have seen him branded ‘the godfather of progressive prosecutors’.
Southern California is grappling with a wave of flash robberies in recent weeks
Since he assumed office in 2020, crime – particularly organized heists like the one seen Tuesday – has prevailed, with many blaming policies implemented by Gascon almost immediately into his tenure.
Reforms administered days into Gascon’s first term as the city’s DA also saw years shaved off sentences for several killers who committed crimes when they were still teens, in an apparent bid to keep the city’s young people out of jail.
Such measures have since failed miserably, with both organized and petty crime now commonplace.
A string of planned hits last week – including the one at the Nordstrom – seemed indicative of this, and spurred a statement from Mayor Karen Bass.
In it, she claim that ‘those who committed these acts and acts like it in neighboring areas must be held accountable.’ and that the city’s police force was currently working to prevent similar attacks.
A shocking video captured a scene of mob-style mayhem, showing the ‘smash-and-grab’-style robbery, which saw a guard maced with bear spray and all the suspects escape unmarred. One of the thieves is seen here laden down with numerous bags and even a small suitcase
Others grabbed items of clothing and quickly made their escape before police arrived on the scene
Witnesses watched the looters free, several in vehicles, including Lexus and BMW cars
The group sprinted to the door in an attempt to make swift exit from the store, securing as much merchandise as they can carry. As of Wednesday, an arrest has yet to be made
Footage taken inside the store shows men in dark hoodies and face masks ransacking the department store, located at Westfield Topanga Mall, even resorting to attacking security guards with bear spray.
Videos has since rapidly circulated on social media, showing the mob shattering display cases and grabbing high-end designer accessories, some still affixed with electronic security tags.
One of the thieves was even seen pulling a large metal display shelf behind him as he fled, with a luxury leather bag still affixed to it by a security tag.
The group sprinted to the door in an attempt to make swift exit from the store, securing as much merchandise as they can carry.
The thieves took off with thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags and designer clothing, an LAPD spokesman told NBC News.
The group swarmed the store at around 4pm on Saturday, scooping up armfuls of items, some inadvertently dropping amid the chaos, as they maneuvered around shattered glass and overturned mannequins.
A Los Angeles Nike store was hit by a pack of thieves who stuffed merchandise into trash bags and took off just days after an area Nordstrom was targeted similarly
According to officials with the Los Angeles Police Department, the robbery happened just after 5.30pm in the 4500 block of Whittier Blvd
The men appeared to be targeting the luxury Italian fashion brand Bottega Veneta, known for its signature woven leather handbags.
Investigators believe the group stole up to $100,000 in merchandise.
The criminals used bear spray to attack at least two security guard at the store. The extent of their injuries are unclear.
Bear spray, deployed from pressurized canisters, contains capsaicin and other ingredients that can inflame the eyes and upper respiratory system.
Mall goers were not evacuated and it is unclear if anyone was injured. There have been no arrests reported at this time. Police are searching for 30 to 50 suspects.
These types of robberies appear to be on the rise and becoming all too common, especially in the Los Angeles area.
In another recent incident later in the week, a Nike store in the was hit by a pack of thieves in the very same mall – with members of the group filmed stuffing merchandise into trash bags before taking off largely unhindered.
Video posted last week on the Citizen App showed the shocking robbery – which happened August 12 and involved two still-at-large women and one man who were seen grabbing shoe boxes before exiting the store.
Staffers and other customers at the crowded Nike Community Store on Whittier Blvd. in East Los Angeles seemed at a loss as to what to do – a general trend in the city of Angels as politicians continue to push policies that have failed to quell crime.
That, along with a historic homeless crisis that has also persisted since the pandemic, saw Bass – who assumed office in 2020 – met with boos at a meeting about housing earlier in the month, as seen in videos posted to social media.
A similar heist was carried out last week by a mob of thieves at an Yves Saint Laurent store at a mall in Glendale, with the loss also estimated at $300,000. Between 20 to 30 suspects were involved and all fled the scene in several vehicles, including a BMW, a Lexus and a Honda
Controversial Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, at the Long Beach Pride 40th annual parade on Sunday (pictured) has been attacked for slashing criminals’ jail time
Problematic policies, which include lenient jail time rules, were set into motion by LA County DA Gascón for the past three years. The rules, more often than not, allowed repeated offenders to be released back into society without facing severe or lengthy punishment for their crimes.
The lax laws caused a rift between LAPD Chief Michael Moore and Gascón, after Moore shifted blame of the city’s high crime rate away from his department and toward the district attorney.
Gascón, while being criticized as being soft on crime, later backtracked on some of his most controversial policies, including not pursuing sentences of life in prison without parole, and not prosecuting juveniles accused of serious offenses as adults.
That sudden change of heart came came more than a year ago, when the 69-year-old faced a second recall effort organized by his critics, who at the time contended his policies were to blame for LA’ rising crime rates.
In the span since, crime has continued to soar – and both Bass and Gascón have felt the wrath of the public as a result
Speaking to reporters Monday as the search for the culprits behind the Nordstrom raid continued, Gascón insisted the perpetrators will be held accountable.
‘We’ve got a team of people that have been working in the Glendale case and other cases, and will continue to do so,’ he said.
‘We assigned our organized crime division to work on these cases about a year and a half ago.
‘We view them as organized crime, and we will use every tool available under the law when there is an arrest made to make sure these individuals are held accountable. This is unacceptable behavior in a civilized society.’
A group of five is seen on video using sledgehammers to enter a luxury jeweler last year, obliterating the front window of the store before making off with multiple items, Such crimes have been commonplace since the pandemic, despite it being more than three years later
He added that there are people in the community who can identify the robbers, with some people even buying stolen merchandise from the heist, and they also need to be held accountable.
His department is not directly involved in the Glendale or Canoga Park cases, Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters the sheriff’s department will coordinate with other law enforcement.
Gascón was elected into office along with Bass during the midst of the pandemic, and is up for reelection next year. Bass is as well.
He made made his name as DA in San Francisco where he co-authored notorious state senate bill Proposition 47 that slashed the number of crimes on the statute book.
The politician repeated the move while promising to abolish bail bonds on his first day in office in December 2020, pledging the release of hundreds of people from LA County jails.
He said his prosecutors would no longer seek the death penalty, calling it ‘racist’, and pledged to stop the prosecution of juveniles as adults.
He estimated some 20,000 state prison inmates would be considered for early release but his reforms have infuriated staff, leading to at least 140 unfilled roles and a backlog of 10,000 cases.
‘The problem is, people started leaving because they became so fed up with his policies, so those of us who stayed are carrying two or three times the caseload,’ one prosecutor told the NY Post.
But it is his determination to keep young people out of the criminal justice system that has put his re-election in jeopardy and helped prompt a recall petition by victims’ rights advocates that attracted more than 715,000 signatures last year.