Bands of shoplifters are terrorizing luxury stores in Soho in New York City.
They are stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of designer merchandise, and in some cases, threatening security guards to keep quiet — or be labeled racist, The NY Post reported.
This began in May with the George Floyd riots. High-end Celine was looted of $1.5 million in merchandise then, and the blatant thievery continues “every week” in ritzy stores such as Prada, Moncler, Dior and Balenciaga, one local said.
“This is happening every week. Walk around Soho on Wooster Street and Greene Street, Mercer Street. … You have huge bouncers out there trying to deter hit-and-run activity,” the source, a restaurateur, said.
Sometimes, the thieves are given carte blanche to steal so they aren’t accused of racism.
“If they [store personnel] stop them and say anything in the store before they’ve left the building then it often gets turned into a racial accusation,” the source said.
“The brands … tell their employees to walk away,” the insider added. “They don’t want to be the next Instagram video claiming they are a racist brand.”
Store managers are terrified of being called racists
NYPD Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC, told The Post that investigators are aware that “mobs of young, transient groups” have “bulldozed through aisles grabbing as much as their arms can hold.”
Allegedly store thefts are going down but these people don’t report many of these thefts.
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