A flash mob was originally a way to describe a group of people who’d planned some kind of public surprise, usually entertaining but always harmless. But this weekend, residents of California experienced flash mobs who were clearly organized with bad intent. It apparently started Friday night with the looting of a Luis Vuitton store in San Francisco. This video shows one man running away while police stop looters in a car.

Louis Vuitton San Francisco, Union square got cleared out!! pic.twitter.com/7Sz6rlRo8n

— Da Juan (@CARLITOSGUEY) November 20, 2021

The Luis Vuitton store was cleared out but that was just the tip of the iceberg. San Francisco’s District 11 Supervisor, Ahsha Safai told ABC 7 that over $1 million dollars worth of merchandise was stolen from the Union Square area that night. The same thieves tried to break into a Fendi store but were chased away by police.

The situation was serious enough that Mayor London Breed made a statement the next day warning that this type of crime does a lot more damage than just broken glass. The theft potentially puts retailers out of business which means people lose their jobs and the city ears less revenue.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the flash looting. Saturday night, a group of approximately 80 people rushed into a Nordstrom’s in Walnut Creek, CA, which is east of Oakland.

About 80 people rushed into the store in the city’s Broadway Plaza, a police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that an employee was pepper-sprayed and that two others were punched and kicked. All three sustained minor injuries and were treated and released at the scene, the spokesperson said.

The whole thing was over in a couple of minutes but a local news reporter happened to be there and captured video of the looters’ cars blocking the street.

#Breaking About 25 cars just blocked the street and rushed into the Walnut Creek Nordstrom making off with goods before getting in cars snd speeding away. At least two people arrested at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/AG3R94M9L3

— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) November 21, 2021

Out of the estimated 80 looters, just three people were arrested. Two were from San Francisco and one was from Oakland. The same reporter got video of one car being stopped by a police officer:

While most of the looters got away, @walnutcreekpd did arrest a few following the flash mob robbery of the Walnut Creek Nordstrom store. #nordstrom #flashmobrobbery pic.twitter.com/LPlrNeiyhg

— Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) November 21, 2021

Sunday, Walnut Creek PD warned retailers that there was concern the same group might be planning more looting:

(1of 2)The Walnut Creek Police Department is actively monitoring intelligence that indicates the group of thieves who stole from the Broadway Plaza Nordstrom last night are considering similar activity later today. This has not been confirmed, but out of an abundance of caution, pic.twitter.com/Jwm7a4ntwF

— Walnut Creek PD (@walnutcreekpd) November 21, 2021

(2of 2)we’re alerting businesses and residents to be prepared. The PD is calling out add’l officers and reserves, and some stores may consider closing early or taking other precautions. There is no specific time or target known right now. More info to follow as we know more. pic.twitter.com/xqdEljjGJg

— Walnut Creek PD (@walnutcreekpd) November 21, 2021

Indeed, there was another flash mob looting a mall on Sunday night. This time it took place in Hayward, CA just south of Oakland and the thieves focused their efforts on a jewelry store:

A large mob robbed Sam’s Jewelers inside Southland Mall, Hayward. PD said they received calls at 5:25 pm today. Witnesses told me 1st wave of robbers involved about 30-40 kids. A 2nd wave with fewer robbers returned to clean it up. Story tonight 11 on Ch 5 ⁦@KPIXtv⁩ pic.twitter.com/1kXj5N4UT2

— Da Lin (@DaKPIX) November 22, 2021

Here’s the aftermath:

Workers inside Sam’s Jewelers cleaning up. A large mob smashed the cases and took off with a large amount of jewelry. Inside Southland Mall, Hayward today. If you haven’t already, check out my other tweet with video of the actual robbery. ⁦@KPIXtv⁩ pic.twitter.com/RU4ei9aVsM

— Da Lin (@DaKPIX) November 22, 2021

Buried at the very bottom of the Washington Post story on the weekend looting spree was this comment about why this might be happening:

Jim Dudley, a retired San Francisco Police officer who now teaches criminal justice at San Francisco State University, said the burglaries might be the result of a “perfect storm” created by corporations and policymakers in California, where many retailers have “no chase” policies regarding shoplifters and where at least $950 of merchandise must be stolen for state prosecutors to press felony charges.

Obviously the looting in San Francisco Friday night would exceed $950 per person by quite a bit but it’s hard to argue that something has changed in the past few years which has removed a disincentive to burglary.