Police are trying to determine if robberies at two high-end Fashion Valley boutiques within two weeks of each other are connected.
Nearly $50,000 worth of expensive Chanel purses were stolen from the Nordstrom department store at Fashion Valley Mall just before 11:30 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday.
San Diego police say four men all dressed in matching hooded sweatshirts and black pants went into the boutique inside the popular store, one standing right outside holding what appeared to be some kind of pepper spray. Lt. Charles Lara with San Diego Police said the robbery took only about 10 seconds.
“They went behind one of the counters and they took about 15 purses with them," he told NBC 7.
Shoppers were stunned to hear the crime happened right in the middle of the day. Isaiah Mackey told NBC 7, “something like that happening in broad daylight - it does make me very nervous.”
Police said the thieves left through the east door of the store and took off in a blue/grey late 2000s Honda Accord with no front license plate but a paper plate in the back reading Kearny Mesa Genesis.
Detectives spent part of the afternoon collecting evidence from the scene.
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In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 21 three cars pulled up to the north entrance at Fashion Valley Mall.
Police say 10 suspects all wearing hooded sweatshirts and gloves used a pry bar and forced their way into the Hermes De Paris store. In two minutes, they stole purses, jewelry and clothing worth half a million dollars.
Investigators began looking into the possibility of the crimes being connected "because they are very similar nature with the high-end bag being stolen," Lt. Lara said.
Lt. Lara said the bags are targeted because they are very desirable, thus easy to sell.
"Even if they're getting pennies on the dollar, they're still doing quite well," Lara said.
