Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul were hit with a slew of burglaries on Black Friday, the latest in a series of smash-and-grab robberies plaguing retailers across the US.
in the past two weeks, primarily at luxury retailers including Nordstrom, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent, and Bloomingdale's in the Bay Area.
Meanwhile Friday, a group of up to 30 people entered a Best Buy south of downtown Minneapolis and stole electronics,. Another Best Buy location near downtown Saint Paul was also hit by robbers on Black Friday, the outlet reported. While it remains unclear if the looting is connected, Scott Decker — a professor at Arizona State University and an expert on robberies and gangs —that media coverage of the incidents may be prompting copycat events.
"It may be that someone who is an offender who...sees it on TV and says, 'Hey, the cops in my city aren't that sophisticated,' or 'We could get away with one if we just go in real quickly and get out quickly,'" he said.The first of the Black Friday incidents in Chicago was reported at the House of Hoops by Foot Locker location on North Milwaukee Avenue at 1:40 a.m.
According to ABC7 Chicago, police would not share if the incidents are related and no one is currently in custody.Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commentingPolice are stepping up their presence at malls and shopping centers across the U.S. this Black Friday weekend amid a spike of so called "smash-and-grab" robberies.
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