California: 80 people rob Nobel department store Nordstrom in Walnut Creek

Enlarge image

Union Square in San Francisco is a popular shopping street.

But luxury shops are always being robbed

Photo: Tony Avelar / AP

A group of around 80 people robbed and looted a posh department store in the town of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to eyewitnesses, the local police confirmed the incident.

Some people were wearing ski masks and holding crowbars as they entered a branch of the Nordstrom chain.

After the attack, the alleged perpetrators got into cars and fled.

According to police, most of them escaped.

Three people were arrested.

According to a media report, the Walnut Creek Police Department announced that a gun had been seized from one of the three suspects.

People leave the store with bags and boxes

NBC reporter Jodi Hernandez shared a video on Twitter.

It shows various people, some of them masked, coming from the shop in downtown Walnut Creek, carrying bags and boxes, jumping into cars and driving away.

Around 25 cars blocked the road, the reporter wrote.

In a second video that Hernandez distributed, police forces can be seen,

The incident was reported around 8:45 p.m.

At that time the Nordstrom branch was still open.

According to previous reports, there were no injuries.

In San Francisco, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent stores were raided

The city of Walnut Creek is located approximately 20 miles northeast of San Francisco.

A large group had robbed several luxury shops in Union Square the day before.

They broke windows, stole goods and then ran to waiting cars, the police said.

According to a report by the broadcaster Fox 2 News, stores of the luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana were the target of the thieves.

Several people are said to have been arrested.

The shops in the popular shopping district have been plagued by well-organized thieves and gangs for years.

Sometimes the burglars are supposed to ram the shop windows with vehicles in order to smash glass doors and windows and to break into the buildings outside of business hours.

vki / AP