California thieves raid 3 7-Eleven stores in less than 20 minutes, hours after Gavin Newsom signs ‘historic’ deal to crack down on armed robberies
A mob of California cyclists ransacked three separate 7-Eleven stores in less than 20 minutes, just hours after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a “historic” plan to crack down on retail theft.
According to NBC Los Angeles, citing the LAPD, about 20 bicycle thieves targeted convenience stores in the Hollywood area, within two miles of each other, on Friday night.
The brazen group broke into each store and stole food and drinks, starting with the 7-Eleven at 7040 West Sunset Boulevard just after 8 p.m.
The store was left with a broken window.
An employee at a second store near Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave. was reportedly assaulted around 8:16 p.m., the outlet reported.
A third store on Santa Monica Boulevard was hit at 8:22 p.m.
The Post has contacted the LAPD.
Friday night’s chaos is the most recent burglary incident to ravage the Golden State.
A store manager told the outlet that the teens caught on surveillance cameras Friday resembled the same group that attacked two other 7-Eleven stores in the area last week.
Between 2019 and 2022, California saw a 22% increase in shoplifting and a 16% and 13% increase in commercial burglaries and armed robberies, respectively, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
The armed robberies have left local and state politicians in the lurch as recent bipartisan legislation was just signed by Newsom on Friday.
The “historic” law was signed to impose tougher penalties on serial shoplifters, retail thieves and car burglars.
The law “also authorizes the aggregation of stolen property, which allows prosecutors to combine the value of multiple stolen items – even across different victims and counties – to help reach the robbery threshold.”
In California, grand larceny is defined as one or more items stolen with a value greater than $950.
“Let’s be clear, this is the most significant piece of legislation to combat property crime in modern California history,” Newsome said Friday.
“While some are trying to take us back to the ineffective and costly policies of the past, these new laws represent a better way forward: they make our communities safer and provide useful tools to help law enforcement catch criminals and hold them accountable for their actions.”
