A flash mob of looters destroyed a 7-Eleven Monday in the Harbor Gateway section of Los Angeles, smashing everything in sight and snatching merchandise. The destruction occurred after a crowd had already engaged in a “street takeover” a mile and a half away where joyriders blocked the streets and drove recklessly while spectators looked on.
It was an hour or so later that a mob–presumably people coming from the street takeover looking for more entertainment–raided the 7-Eleven. The LAPD released this stunning video of the rampage:
It feels like watching sharks in a feeding frenzy.
Perhaps the looters were celebrating the defeat of the Recall Gasc?n effort? I’m just being snarky–there is no evidence to support that, but they might as well party it up. Life for criminals has been a whole lot easier since “progressive” LA County District Attorney George Gasc?n’s arrival, and it looks like that’s going to continue now that it looks like he won’t be removed from office.
The appalling melee started with the street takeover, a common occurrence in LA. According to the LA Daily news:
Motorists flooded the intersection and blocked traffic with their vehicles from all directions to create a ‘pit’ in the middle of the intersection,” police said in a statement. “During the incident, spectators exited their vehicles and watched as motorists recklessly drove in a maneuver known as ‘doing donuts.’
I guess nobody told them that August is National Traffic Safety Awareness month. Looking for a different kind of donuts perhaps, a crowd appeared not long after at the nearby 7-Eleven at the intersection of Figueroa Street and El Segundo Boulevard. Police described the scene:
Video surveillance from the store showed the looters fanning out across the store and grabbing all the snacks, drinks, cigarettes, lotto tickets and other merchandise. Looters also vandalized the store and threw merchandise at employees. The looters then exited the store to the surrounding parking lots and streets, and quickly dispersed before police arrived.
Because all the looters were caught on video, authorities are hoping to identify at least some of them. Locations of the 7-Eleven chain have been under repeated assault recently. In July, a pair of hoodlums went on a looting spree across six stores in one night, murdering two people in the process. In May, two men got into a shoot-out at a Montebello, California 7-Eleven. The situation is so out of hand that the company encouraged its franchises to modify their hours, saying in a July statement: “Right now, our focus is on franchisee, associate, and customer safety. With that in mind, we encouraged stores in the Los Angeles area to close overnight.”
Street takeovers, meanwhile, are a common occurrence in Los Angeles. I regularly hear screeching tires and revving engines from my secret bunker in the San Fernando Valley. The city was thoroughly embarrassed when it opened the new $588 million 6th Street bridge in July with great fanfare, only to have it repeatedly taken over by dangerous mobs of drivers and people setting off fireworks. Officials estimate it will cost $704,000 a year just to clean up all the graffiti at this rate. Unable to control the situation, authorities often have had to shut the bridge down to all traffic. Now they are installing costly speedbumps. I have another idea: how about arresting those engaged in these activities?
People often tell me that reports of crime are overstated and that everything’s just the way it’s always been, and folks who talk about it are being hysterical and reactionary. Tell that to 7-Eleven owners.
Now that progressive DA George Gasc?n looks to be staying in power, don’t expect the mayhem to stop anytime soon.