A group of three burglars broke into a Neiman Marcus store in Canoga Park early Thursday morning, stealing $40,000 worth of designer handbags and leaving a mess of broken glass, police said.
A burglar alarm at the store inside the Westfield Topanga mall in the 6600 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard (map) was triggered just before 5 a.m., officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said.
When officers responded several minutes later, they saw that the burglars had smashed through a doorway that entered the upscale department store from the parking lot, according to Sgt. Trevion Stokes of LAPD's Topanga Station.
A canine unit was called to the scene. Inside the store, officers found no burglars, but broken glass on the floor.
Stokes said the burglars had tried unsuccessfully to break into a glass case. They stole handbags instead, Stokes said.
The bags were all made by Louis Vuitton, and worth about $40,000, Stokes said. Louis Vuitton bags range in price from about $400 for a wallet-size pouch to nearly $7,500 for a crystal-covered evening bag.
It was not clear what was inside the targeted glass display case.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Surveillance video showed three men wearing hoodies and gloves, Stokes said.
The mall was scheduled to open at 10 a.m., and police had cleared the scene by about 8:30 a.m.
