A mob of about 50 juveniles on bicycles easily ransacked and robbed a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles late last week and escaped police. It was the latest episode in an apparent criminal trend in the area.
Los Angeles police confirmed to KTLA-TV that about 50 kids just before 7:30 p.m. Friday biked to the convenience store at the 8500 block of West Olympic Boulevard near Beverley Hills, stole items, and fled the scene on their bicycles before police arrived.
In August, a bike-riding mob of about 20 pulled off three smash-and-grab robberies in 20 minutes at Hollywood 7-Elevens within a two-mile radius of each other.
You can view a KTLA video report here about Friday’s incident, which includes cellphone video of the robbery.
The clip shows teens — mostly wearing hoodies and dark clothing — jumping off their bicycles in the 7-Eleven parking lot, mobbing their way into the store, and “stealing whatever they could get their hands on, including food and lottery tickets, stuffing their shirts and sweatshirts and pockets with the merchandise,” according to the station’s reporter.
The deed was done in a matter of minutes, KTLA’s video report said, adding that an Instagram account Street People of Beverly Hills also posted videos showing “some of the juveniles covering their faces with hoods and masks as they run in and out of the store, and others are seen laughing as they run back to their bikes with stolen goods.”
KTLA said it isn’t known how much merchandise was stolen or how much damage may have been caused.
According to KTTV-TV, Friday’s caper “is the latest in what seems to be a trend.”
In August, a bike-riding mob of about 20 pulled off three smash-and-grab robberies in 20 minutes at Hollywood 7-Elevens within a two-mile radius of each other. Ironically, the crimes occurred on the same day Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills into law that were enacted to combat such crimes, KNBC-TV reported.
The station also rolled surveillance video of a similar smash-and-grab by a mob of teenagers at another area 7-Eleven the previous week.
What’s more, a mob of about 30 teenagers on bicycles were caught on video brutally beating up and robbing a lone man in downtown Los Angeles in early August. The victim suffered a broken leg — which will require surgery — as well as deep cuts all over his body after getting kicked and punched while on the ground.
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7-eleven, Bicycles, Juveniles, Los angeles, Mob, Police, Ransack, Teenagers, Theft, Trend, Crime