Over the weekend, a series of flash robberies occurred in Oakland, Calif., that left multiple pharmacies and cannabis dispensaries, as well as a Nordstrom, a Louis Vuitton, and a jewelry shop, ransacked of both product and cash.
Surveillance footage from the Wellspring Pharmacy shows dozens of thieves swarming the facility grabbing medications. The incident occurred around 7:30pm, leaving the pharmacy, which is independent, in need of restoration.
One employee said the store was "overwhelmed and devastated" by the incident, especially since it is not a big chain like CVS or Walgreens.
"I feel overwhelmed after learning of coordinated robberies in San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Alameda & beyond this weekend," the person further said. "It is too much to cover."
A family-owned jewelry shop in Oakland's Chinatown was also targeted at around 1:40am. The owner told news anchor Dion Lim that about a dozen people were seen on surveillance footage trying to break in with crowbars and what appeared to be a carjack.
"The people are unable to break through the metal gate installed earlier this year," Lim tweeted after analyzing the footage, noting that the same facility was robbed back in February.
"We just feel so numb & disgusted," the owners further told her.
Things are likely to spiral even worse out of control going into the holiday season
This trend of "smash-and-grab" robberies appears to be on the rise all over the Bay Area, as several other stores also got hit.
A Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, a Louis Vuitton in San Francisco, and a jewelry store in a Hayward mall all got hit, as did numerous other local businesses including a cannabis store.
"At least two dozen businesses were impacted," stated Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to a local CBS affiliate.
"Roving caravans of vehicles, targeting cannabis operations, retail shops, pharmacies, throughout the city of Oakland."
A Walgreens store was also hit in Oakland, which prevented a cancer patient from accessing his medications.
"I've got cancer, so I'm trying to get certain medications filled and they tell you to go to another Walgreens," this person said.
According to Massey, this was the "third time" that this particular Walgreens was hit by robbers, causing it to have to be shut down.
"It hurts us all," he says. "Especially the little guy that really needs it."
Chief Armstrong says that this "overwhelming violence" throughout the city is really taking its toll on the community and its law enforcement resources, calling it "unacceptable."
"It's unacceptable for our residents, our visitors," he says. "Nobody should have to live through this."
At a Lululemon in San Jose's Santana Row area, four people allegedly stole about $40,000 in yet another smash-and-grab incident. Incidents like this are only expected to increase as we venture into the holiday season.
"People need to be alert," added San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo.
"We're coming into the busy holiday shopping season. We can't be everywhere at the same time. We do need citizens' help; when they see suspicious activity occurring, please let us know, especially at the malls."
In Walnut Creek where the Nordstrom incident took place, Mayor Kevin Wilk said that it is impossible to predict, let alone prepare, for this kind of thing in advance of it occurring.
"This is like watching a piranha consume a cow carcass," wrote one commenter at Information Liberation about the video footage of several of the incidents. "We're done, society will never be the same."
"We are done if we allow the Republican Party to keep patriotic opposition sitting at home rather than marshaling it in the streets to oppose these animals destroying our nation," responded another.
More of the latest news about the breakdown of American society can be found at Collapse.news.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.