San Francisco Dior store rammed by car and burglarized

SAN FRANCISCO - The Dior store in San Francisco's Union Square was hit by thieves early Thursday morning, but three of the suspects weren't able to evade capture for long.

A vehicle smashed into the front of the store, breaching a metal gate and shattering the glass doors around 6:50 a.m. 

The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report the robbery.

The perpetrators smashed the store's glass display cases to pilfer the luxury merchandise. Up to 10 people were involved and fled the scene in several getaway vehicles, the San Francisco Police Department said.

"So there were reports that there were up to three vehicles involved," said Sgt. Kathryn Winters. "The car that rammed into it didn't go completely into the business."

One of the getaway vehicles crashed near the Bay Bridge, with the occupants attempting to escape on foot. However, police apprehended three of them.

"When our officers were responding they did locate one of the vehicles involved, that vehicle fled and got into an accident on the bridge, the occupants ran on foot, but we were able to make some arrests and recover a substantial amount of merchandise," said Winters.

Winters said several suspects are still at large.

Authorities would not provide an exact amount on the value of the recovered stolen goods, but said it is worth thousands.

The suspects involved in the Dior incident also attempted to break into a Fendi store, but they could not break through the door, police said.

Several retail stores in the Bay Area, including San Jose and Berkeley, have been targeted by thieves in recent weeks.

At San Jose's Valley Fair Mall, a Gucci store was looted with five masked suspects making off with $50,000 worth of merchandise.