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Customers at a T-Mobile store in Orange were caught up in a frightening smash-and-grab robbery that was captured on camera. The incident involved three Californian thieves stealing phones worth thousands of dollars during business hours on Monday, September 19, 2022.
What happened at the T-mobile store?
According to the Orange Police Department, the suspects struck a T-Mobile store in Orange located at 3320 East Chapman Avenue.
Based on surveillance footage, robbers can be seen rushing inside the T-Mobile store and making their way straight to the area where expensive phones were on display.
Reportedly, they were caught on camera by shoppers who broke display panels and took different electronic gadgets off the shelves. Authorities estimate that they stole cell phones and ripping cords worth $4,000 worth of merchandise during the burglary and fled the scene.
Store manager Jonathan Villasenor told sources:
“They went straight towards the iPhone display and started yanking on our iPhone demos. They knocked down our whole iPhone display, so that got damaged. Then they made their way over to the Samsung display and started yanking on our Samsungs.”
Authorities claim that the two suspects were then observed leaving the T-Mobile store in a getaway car being driven by a third male suspect.
According to Villasenor, customers were still shopping inside the store when the burglary took place during work hours, and one of them was quite "shaken up." However, he claimed that thefts become common when new iPhone models are launched.
What are "smash and grab" robberies previously reported?
A string of large-scale robberies at upscale stores throughout California have garnered national attention amid contentious discussions over the future of policing in major American cities. The incidents have generated a lot of media attention, linking them to "organized crime."
Reportedly, at the height of the holiday shopping season, groups smashed into Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Bloomingdale's last month in San Francisco's downtown and upscale Union Square shopping area.
In what police described as an "organized action," about 80 people, some of whom were brandishing crowbars and wearing ski masks, snatched armfuls of items from a Nordstrom in suburban Walnut Creek.
A similar incident took place at a mall in the neighboring city of Hayward. In Los Angeles, over the course of about two weeks, 11 "smash-and-grab" instances resulted in the theft of products worth over $330,000.
Although police and shops have connected retail thefts to "organized crime" in news headlines and press releases, experts say authorities lack a uniform definition, making it difficult to analyze the situation.
However, if a person conspires with at least one other person to steal with the intention of selling it, it is "organized retail theft" under California law, which is punishable by prosecution.
