Two more brazen retail store robberies in the Bay Area on Sunday punctuated a weekend filled with highly publicized smash-and-grabs across the region.
The first of the latest pair of incidents occurred when a large mob of thieves ransacked Sam's Jewelers at the Southland Mall in Hayward around 5:25 p.m. Approximately nine subjects stormed the store with hammers, smashed glass and display cases, grabbed jewelry and fled in two separate vehicles, Cassondra Fovel, Public Information Officer with the Hayward Police Department, told KCBS Radio.
Fovel added that while initial reports indicated there were shots fired, there was no evidence of a shooting. She said witnesses might have been hearing the glass "smack" which they mistook for gunshots.
No arrests have been made at this time and police are working to get a description of the get-a-away cars and the suspects.
Later that night at approximately 6:20 p.m., a separate robbery occurred at a Lululemon store on Santana Row in San Jose. Police spokesperson Sergeant Christian Camarillo told KCBS Radio a "group of suspects" took merchandise and fled prior to police arriving. An investigation is ongoing and no other information was available.
The two Sunday incidents follow multiple brazen thefts over the weekend which made national headlines. Several viral videos were taken of looters robbing the Louis Vuitton store in downtown San Francisco on Friday night, prompting police to increase patrol in Union Square. Nearly 24 hours later, an 80 person mob pillaged a Walnut Creek Nordstrom late Saturday night, most of which escaped without arrest.
It’s unclear whether the incidents are related.
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