The dozens of looters who rushed Walnut Creek’s Nordstrom on Saturday night made off with between $100,000 ad $200,000 worth of merchandise, Walnut Creek police said Monday.
Lt. Hollie Connors said up to 80 masked bandits blocked the street up and down Broadway Plaza with up to 25 vehicles that had license plates covered from possible identification. Though the city began placing officers inside Nordstrom earlier this year after similar smash-and-grab robberies, no officers were on site just before 9 p.m. Saturday when the coordinated attack took place.
Three employees were injured, including one who was pepper-sprayed.
Police arrested three suspects Saturday night, at least one with a gun, as dozens more fled. Connors said they were still being held Sunday, though didn’t know if they were still in custody Monday afternoon.
The robbery may have been part of a larger string of robberies happening at jewelry and other high-end stores around the Bay Area.
On Sunday night, 8 to 10 suspects with hammers hit Sam’s Jewelry at Hayward’s Southland Mall. About an hour later, suspects rushed high-end athletic apparel store Lululemon in San Jose’s Santana Row, making off with merchandise.
Connors said it’s not clear whether there’s a connection. She said police believed another attempt would be made at Nordstrom Sunday night, and police blocked off ether end of the street and put its ready and react team on alert. No trouble was reported.
“I don’t know if that made them divert, or what happened,” Connors said. “We had some information that that same group might come back. We prepared.”
Walnut Creek Mayor Kevin Wilk said the city will keep Broadway Plaza free of cars at least through the holidays.
“This is really all hands on deck,” Wilk said. “We’ll have more police downtown. We’ll be monitoring online chatter and communicating with all our stores.”
Connors said police resources and staffing aren’t optimum right now, and people may be taking advantage.
“Police agencies are hurting right now, “Connors said.
She said there was an officer posted at the nearby Apple Store Saturday night, who was alerted to what were initially reported as a high number of reckless driving incidents around the plaza. Police responded quickly, but were hampered by the sheer number of suspects driving away in so many vehicles.
“We doing what we can do, with increased foot patrols on weekends,” Connors said, adding that departments may need better coordination and more joint efforts. There’s also possibility of sharing intelligence resources with federal law enforcement.
Wilk said he expects more arrests as more video evidence is analyzed. He spent much of Monday in meetings about the city response, including discussions with other mayors on how to coordinate. He said the city also needs county help.
“We need the D.A. to charge and prosecute these cases to the full extent of the law,” Wilk said. “If people see they’re going to be caught, they’ll think twice. We need to make people feel safe in Walnut Creek. We demand it.”
71 comments
On the stolen property market, that will bring about 1/10 of its value – $20,000 divided by 80 people = $250 each. Or less than 2 days at minimum wage. Was it worth it?
Probably traded it for an eightball of metth (retail $80) and a bottle of hennessey
Obviously math was not their best subject. Wondering how much schooling they had. Might fight amongst themselves about the distribution of whatever money they might get. Or if applicable might give some of the stolen merchandise as christmas presents.
What does it matter if it’s $250? No consequences so not really any risk. $250 for 15min worth of work is good pay. Why wouldn’t you want that rather than an 8 hour job for $180?
Why would they come back the next day? They’re smart enough to allow Nordstrom’s enough time to restock the racks/shelves so they can pillage again!
Its like a battery thief. Steal a old one one night and come back for a new one later.
The shelves were already restocked Monday.
Walnut Creek Mayor Kevin Wilk said the city will keep Broadway Plaza free of cars at least through the holidays.
Kinda like closing the barn door after the cow’s runoff.
The leadership in Walnut Creek has failed the people.
The City Council even denied the Police any of the stimulus packages.
I wonder what WC would do without a Police force?
What will those poor WC people do?
Fend for themselves?
In Walnut Creek?
LOL
People need either board up their homes and cower in fear,
or,
Or!
Good people know what needs to be done.
Let the bleeding hearts cower.
Well, I was going to say that as long as we keep voting for Democrats, this is going to get even worse!
We’re seeing the results of the liberal’s social plans for the country.
The Democrats redistribution of wealth plan on display here…
Of all the ludicrous, brainless comments I read here every day, this was one of the funnier comments I’ve seen in a while. Well played.
WC made the national news on FOX
Greg Gutfeld said:
“Walnut Creek is a liberal city that literally, just got mugged into reality”
Now who could argue with that?
Walnut Creek also made NBC national news with Lester Holt tonight.
… it made national news on many broadcast stations TV, radio, and even international news… we’re the laughing stock again 🙁 the crackdown on crime by the mayors of SF & Oakland is working well – not… let’s hope EBay cities plans work out better
National? More like worldwide it was on the news in England my friends saw it!
Times like this my out-of-town relatives call and ask, “What’s going on up there?”
Carrying a bat in public isn’t illegal. Just saying.
Just make sure to carry a ball and glove also.
Yes, but it could give you rabies!
Good point. I think I’m going to start carrying a bat anytime I go to downtown WC.
Tell the cops you’re waiting to be discovered by MLB.
A good hardwood cane, appropriately applied about the skull of the aggressor, will have a most satisfying effect.
Just sayin’….
Try a 3/4 D cell metal flashlight, perfectly legal.
108RS
It’s time for open carry, these crimes don’t happen in red states. Amazing how only cities in states run by democrats are overrun by thugs.
+1
I vote “Yes” on that. At least you can be sure they know what they’re doing.
They need to find out what social media platform this was coordinated on. The platform needs to be held accountable 100% for all damages, financial loss & any other punitive damages that can be added. This was way too coordinated with too many people involved & a definite plan. I guarantee the people physically perpetuating the act aren’t smart enough to plan this. It is going on all over. Find the platform hold everyone and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, 200K should enable our useless DA to act.
I’m willing to bet that the FBI had a night vision drone in the sky watching it all……you know, just in case there’s any non-people of color trying to Stop the shoplifters.
You can’t have anyone trying to Stop lawlessness when your intent is to take down the Nation.
Lol, because they didn’t want to have to deal with the Spectacle of Open Carry Defending the City.
Have we turned the page of 2020/BLM virtue signaling and now people understand the reality that 13% of the population are responsible for 56 % of the violent crime?
So true Yertle! The statistics tell it all but no one will ever acknowledge it. Instead of racism racism racism.
Yes
BLM is stand for Black Loots More instead of Black Lives Matter.
Same Lt. Connors who tried to violate the rights of a First Amendment Auditor. Watch Bay Area Transparency on YouTube!
Well I guess we know who the loser auditor is… Presenting TraumaRx! What an absolute waste of space baiting cops and looking like a complete idiot all the while. I don’t think all cops are good, but I know these loser auditors are proving nothing except their own lack of a life. Creepy Cowards.
Or another way of saying it is: LT. Connors did not violate a First Amendment Auditor’s rights since an attempt is not a complete act.
All I heard was the word “please” was used a whole lot. Those damn aggressive Walnut Creek police.
DramaRx, you do not get the point of these auditors. Though some are trouble makers alot of them are good people exposing bad law enforcement. The bad cops get the good ones hurt or killed, the bad cops are why there is a disconnect between the citizens and law enforcement.
You misspelled “locusts”.
AD
Haven’t they closed the Broadway Plaza street in the past? I have memories of the street being closed in December to make it safer for pedestrians.
They closed lots of streets on Friday & Saturday (cruise nights) back in the 70’s when I was a youngster.
This is what the liberal majority of California voters have voted for(or they are too stupid and naive to know what they do). It goes all the way back to Jerry Clown and now it’s amplified with Gavin Newscum. Prop 47, Prop 57, no bail, hardened career criminals released from prisons, DAs who favor and support criminals, and who have contempt for community safety and security.
They’re too stupid.
Another thing – the libs are billeting fir more police…. But the damn DA won’t prosecute the arrestees.
1. You need an active DA – kick Becton out.
2. Hire more police.
3. Kick out the remaining democrat politicians .
4. No more plea bargaining.
5. Reduce the $950 limit for misdemeanors back to $400.
6. Hold ALL current politicians accountable.
7. Enact term limits.
8. Anyone that violates their oath of office – charge them with treason … and try them.
Until then, this country is gonna slide right into the toilet with the likes of a dementia-addled pedophile and a ho in the WH…. Both of whom have already demonstrated that they are incapable of fulfilling their duties.
WC city council and WCPD have had years to address the smash and grabbers, looters, unlawful marchers and so on and they think they can stop it with the above mentioned comments?
The word is out and has been out WC is a pushover as well as other cities all over.
This behaviour won’t stop until its dealt with severely right then and there when caught in the act.
Criminals behave like this because they can with no repercussions, lax prosecutors and chicken sh** politicians and police chiefs who talk big but can’t act accordingly and protect and serve because of left liberal bosses over them.
The revolution is here and it’s gonna get ugly as most of the public is fed up with it and about to make a serious stand against it themselves.
@tacofuel or maybe this is just right wing fantasy stuff. Ya’ll insist the country is a crime-ridden hellhole regardless of the year, stats, context, etc.
The idea that WC is under some kind of crime seige is HILAAARIOUS. Ya’ll chew on the *same* crime for days/weeks on end pretending it’s a plague. but then a real plague like covid comes and actually does kill American citizens, and ya’ll tell us it’s a hoax and get on with life.
greg
Logical Fallacy Arguments: Any of these sound familiar?
Ad Hominem fallacy argument: attacking the person instead of attacking his argument.
Straw Man (Fallacy Of Extension): attacking an exaggerated or caricatured version of your opponent’s position.
Red Herring Fallacy Argument: is an argument that uses confusion or distraction to shift attention away from a topic and toward a false conclusion.
Greg – apparently you haven’t seen the crime rates and trends for Walnut Creek and other cities in this area for the past 5-10 years. Continuing to deny an increase in crime jyy it at shows how much in denial you are about the facts.
I’m not surprised- you’ll continue to deny this crime wave – but will be the first to call the police when your rights are violated….but have no worries – Becton won’t file.
You can take your BS hypocrisy and fake accent – so stuff it up your a$$.
Btw….you can’t even spell “y’all.” A 4-letter contraction of two 3-letter words. Obviously a product of a liberal “school.”
Greg likes to say “y’all.”
Ya’ll a professional troll greg? Or is it just a hobby for Ya’ll ?
After 30 yrs in WC, just moved to Carson City..Thank God. Sheriff doesn’t mess around here. The majority lefty libs in CoCo county deserve what they voted for. Only way to stop this crap quickly is to shoot looters on site. Sadly that won’t happen. Best thing is the depraved savages will continue to attack the elite suburbs of the East Bay, and perhaps then the white liberal cancer that voted for their lefty government will get some sense. I feel bad for my former neighbors with common sense that haven’t voted with their feet yet. Hope they can get out and stop paying the bill there before it’s too late. If I was the Nordstrom CEO I’d sue Newsom, CoCo County, and WC but he’s probably a detached lefty too.
One person’s right to bear arms is being violated.
Well now that entire world has heard of Walnut Creek, CA. . .
Here is how they now know WC, daily mail https://tinyurl.com/294xa7tn
“We need the D.A. to charge and prosecute these cases to the full extent of the law,” Wilk said. “If people see they’re going to be caught, they’ll think twice. We need to make people feel safe in Walnut Creek. We demand it.”
Problem,
$10,306,082 was spent to CON voters of CA into passing Prop 47 in 2014.
https://tinyurl.com/yysr5wd3
Some of us warned what would happen if it passed.
As long as criminals keep it at $950 or less Shoplifting, Grand theft, Receiving stolen property, Forgery, Fraud, Writing a bad check, they won’t be charged with a Felony. And let’s not forget at least one reason vehicles are broken into personal use of most illegal drugs also a misdemeanor.
About only things to wait for now, how will repeated criminal activity affect home prices and will insurers raise prices or business insurance or flat refuse to write policies for WC businesses ? ?
What happened last year in WC allowing looters almost free rein,
is almost equivalent to leaving five pounds of bacon in your car overnight in bear country.
Low information voters of CA buckle up ’cause it’s going to get worse.
Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your votes.
IF there is no threat of lengthy incarceration,
there is no deterrence of criminal behavior.
I was reading two bay area pot dispensaries were the target of these roving criminal gangs this weekend. A shootout happened – between a looter and a security guard – at one of the locations, according to newspaper accounts.
As some are aware, the Concord City Council gave the greenlight to expanding the number of pot dispensaries in Concord, even though there were no local Concord resdients calling for more retail pot store outlets in our town. As I remember it. former PD Chief Guy Swanger was a big backer of luring more retail pot outlets to Concord. Swanger, of course, wanted to cut Concord PD in on the profits of these new pot dispensaries, along with City Manager Valerie Barone – who was just licking her chops in anticipation of the aded revenue coming to Concord City coffers, which- of course – will wind up in the pckets of the big wigs that work at the City. Almost everybody working at the City of Concord makes at least 100K a year, and most make 150K and up.
I think the City of Cponcord needs to rethink having pot stores in our town, I’d like to see the ones we have shut down. These pot stores draw a seedy element to our town, the people that own the stores are seedy, the people wortk at them are seedy, and – as we are learning – the stores are popular targets for gun toting thieves. These new “progressive” policies you are seeing in California, like making pot legal, or doing away with bail, or closing jails, or charging people that steal 900 dollars from a deaprtment store with a mere misdemeanor – these policeis are not making California safer. This stuff that happened – roving bands of criminals raiding stores in WC – this is going to be the future unless policy leaders rescind these left wing criminal justice policies. These polices are not working, they are aiding aiding abetting looters, law breakers and the like.
Yes many things politically have changed, but let’s see how shall I say it after reading every one of these comments against the City, County and State of California.
I’ve gone to school in that City, lived in Walnut Creek and knew of a time yes, when thugs weren’t even allowed back at a restaurant or got into City Limits. Everywhere has changed and let me tell you folks I’ve been around and no matter the politics they hate us in California.
No, it’s not just because of the politics, so those of you who post here that you moved out, good for you..To our leaders, talk is cheap, fix the problem!
We live here, California and the East Bay and Bay Area are ours, enough about the voters, we got it…Leaders that are in place now do it, you have no choice but to act!
Yeah, close the street down. That’ll solve everything.
$200,000 would buy a lot of rubber bullets, bean-bag rounds, flash-bangs and zip ties. Just saying.
If they aren’t shot on sight (and on site!) the problem will not go away.
And those tack strips that flatten the tires when you roll over them, microchips to place in random high-end items so you can trace them and VIN scanners-not just license plate scanners.
I think its absolutely Dope WC has found a way to recoup the massive loss. Through insurance. No one is shopping high-end stores. Democrats, Fauci and big pharma have destroyed our economy.
I gotta wonder how crime on such a grand scale could be committed without anybody tipping off the WC Police. This was organized crime. Feds should be investigating….. if we dare trust them.
Oh no. Watch out y’all, the mayor said some words. I bet those criminals are shaking in their boots now!
On a serious note, if you have kids you need to move out of California as soon as possible if you have not done so yet. There’s plenty of states that aren’t corrupt hellholes and safe for families.
Without admitting failure, Gov Newsom has started talking tough about law enforcement, while signing into law ending mandatory prison sentences along with all the other measures he has championed during his term.There are at least 2 sides of his mouth he can speak through. Part of the BLM plan. Add to that Diana Becton, and there is a huge problem here. I’m sure the City of Walnut Creek is getting a lesson about pushing such measures, but won’t likely admit failure either.
What did they think would happen? Build more prisons and start handing out more severe sentences or accept this as the norm.
Do not even consider defunding the Police!
All these posting do not solve a thing unless action is taken! There was an ATTEMPT made to try to correct the current issues and problem. Well, it seems 66% of Californians think Ole Newsom and the like are best thing since sliced bread! Along the same lines we should get rid of Becton!! She is hiding in her bunker ala “Let’s go Brandon” Biden!
You can’t make this up.
Your Gov Newscum said at a press conference yesterday that he had “No sympathy or empathy for those responsible for the thefts.” How considerate. Our friends from Michigan asked if our area was trying to compete with Detroit.
Kevin Wilk is a fool.
During the May 31, 2020 rioting/looting, most of the cars were parked on Broadway, Newell (my office building), or California (saw a large group near the old Dragon 2000). Closing down the tiny street will make no difference.
The police response was poor again, most of the cars were parked on the dividing street of BP, why didn’t WCPD just block them from escape with PD vehicles?????
108RS
Formerly with Los Angeles County Sheriff
They have no interest in stopping the mayhem. Walnut Creek has jumped the shark; the Fonz is on water skis approaching the shark tank………and……the seniors will be leaving which of course is the goal. Turn over the prop 13 real estate and quintuple the tax revenue. These officials don’t give a flying f*** for the citizens, and they don’t care about all that woke BS either. It’s dollars, nothing more, W.C. elected officials are soulless.
and the officer didn’t know if they had been released yet? Released? Seriously?
They need to be charged with terrorism also, for frightening so many people, who now will have post traumatic stress.
Punish the shoppers by closing down the stree and closing early,, but let the felons run wild.
Perhaps bring in Kyle Rittenhouse, just his presence would be a deterrent.
108RS
Where are the three now?
Group counseling moderated by a recently promoted yet well dressed transsexual. It’s difficult grueling work, but they are making progress.
I saw today the “experts” strongly advise not to use the term “looting” as this is racist and singles out colored folks. Yes can you believe this comment, IT IS LOOTING CAUSE IF THE SHOE FITS.
The term to use is “stealing”.
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