A group of about 50 teens on bikes easily broke into and stole from a Los Angeles 7-Eleven late last week and got away from police. It was the latest crime in what seems to be a pattern in the area.
Police told KTLA-TV that around 50 kids stole things from the convenience store in West Olympic Boulevard near Beverley Hills just before 7:30 p.m. on Friday. They then rode away on their bikes before police arrived.
In August, three smash-and-grab thefts happened at Hollywood 7-Elevens within two miles of each other by a group of about 20 people riding bikes.
Here is a video story from KTLA about what happened on Friday. It includes video from a cellphone of the theft.
Teenagers, most of whom are wearing hoodies and dark clothes, jump off their bikes in the 7-Eleven parking lot, crowd into the store, and “steal whatever they could, including lottery tickets, stuffing their pockets,” according to a reporter for the station.
KTLA’s video report said the crime happened in just a few minutes. It also said that an Instagram account called Street People of Beverly Hills posted videos of “some of the juveniles covering their faces as they ran out of the store, and others can be seen laughing as they go back to their bikes with stolen goods.”
KLA said they don’t know how much stuff was stolen or how much damage might have been done.
“The latest in what seems to be a trend,” KTTV-TV said of Friday’s crime.
In August, three smash-and-grab thefts happened at Hollywood 7-Elevens within two miles of each other by a group of about 20 people riding bikes. In a strange twist, the crimes happened on the same day that KNBC-TV reported Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills into law to fight these kinds of crimes.
On top of that, the station showed security video of a similar smash-and-grab by a group of teens at another 7-Eleven the week before.
Also, a group of about 30 teens on bikes was caught on tape robbing and beating up a single man in downtown Los Angeles in early August. Someone kicked and punched the victim while he was on the ground, breaking his leg and giving him deep cuts all over his body that will need surgery.
