Shoplifters hit TJ Maxx in Granada Hills in brazen crime captured on video
LOS ANGELES - Shoplifters hit TJ Maxx in Granada Hills on Monday in a brazen robbery captured on video.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, two unidentified suspects entered the store between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. and grabbed dozens of items each. The pair was captured on bystander video leaving the store without paying and the LAPD later said that the pair "refused to pay."
This happened at the TJ Maxx located at 18045 Chatsworth Street in Granada Hills.
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"That looks great," the bystander who took the video can be heard saying as the pair headed towards the door with their stash.
One of the men was seen carrying an oversized duffle bag on his back.
Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to hold a news conference in Los Angeles County Wednesday morning on the state's efforts to address crime and reduce retail theft. Newsom will be joined by law enforcement leaders and state and local officials. Prior to the news conference, Newsom will meet with law enforcement leaders, legislators and local officials.
In recent months, California has seen an uptick in retail and grocery store thefts. Just last week, a Rite Aid employee in Glassell Park was fatally shot by two shoplifters when he tried to stop them from stealing cases of beer.
Meanwhile, a video surfaced earlier this month showing a man stealing items in a San Francisco Walgreens and leaving the store on his bike with the goods as security guards and onlookers filmed the incident.
The crimes have operators in the grocery and retail industries raising concerns about harsher penalties for theft.
RELATED: Governor Newsom, joined by SFPD chief, signs bill targeting rampant organized retail theft
During a Facebook Live, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva discussed the rise in crimes. He said Prop 47 and district attorneys who pride themselves to be progressives and reform minded and who do not prosecute thefts are the real problem.
"In the past, pre Prop-47 and pre these progressive DA’s like George Gascón, they’d [suspects] at least bother to run out, now they don’t even bother to run out. They just causally stroll out with all the time in the world knowing that as long as they keep the tally under $950 it’s perfectly OK," Villanueva stated.
When the amount of items stolen are under $950 it is considered a petty theft and charged as a misdemeanor.
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