<p>Yet another smash-and-grab robbery in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> area on Tuesday saw a band of thieves make off with half a million dollars in jewelry, the store&#8217;s owner said.</p>
<p>Samuel Babikian, owner of Jewels on Lake in Pasadena just north of Los Angeles, was <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/pasadena-smash-and-grab-jewelry-store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left distraught</a> after he said a group of robbers came into his store and pepper sprayed him before absconding with about $500,000 worth of merchandise.</p>
<p>Pasadena police responded to a call about the incident around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Police said they were told four men in ski masks robbed the jewelry store. The attackers fled in a white vehicle, police <a href="https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2023/08/29/masked-robbers-pepper-spray-pasadena-jewelry-store-owner-and-employee-during-500000-heist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.</p>
<p>So far, police have not announced any arrests in connection with the robbery, and the investigation is ongoing.</p>
<p>The store owner said the pepper spray briefly blinded him and gave him breathing issues, so he was unable to give a detailed description of the attackers.</p>
<p>Babikian said he has owned the jewelry store for more than 40 years.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t even know what I would do tomorrow morning,&#8221; an emotional Babikian <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/pasadena-smash-and-grab-jewelry-store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox 11.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles area has been battling a string of organized retail thefts characterized by large groups of robbers ransacking stores together.</p>
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<p>Late last month, police <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/california-jewelry-store-smash-grab-robbers-snatched-900000-merchandise" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> another group of masked thieves stole $900,000 worth of merchandise from a jewelry store in Irvine just south of Los Angeles and Glendale.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, a mob of up to 50 people in hoodies and masks <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/08/14/1193726286/smash-and-grab-mob-criminals-nordstrom-los-angeles-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stole</a> up to $300,000 in luxury merchandise from a Nordstrom in Los Angeles. The thieves also attacked security guards with bear mace.</p>
<p>Three weeks ago, another group of 30 to 40 thieves robbed a Yves Saint Laurent store in southern California in broad daylight, absconding with an estimated $300,000 worth of merchandise, police said. The brazen smash-and-grab robbery was caught on video just before 5 p.m. The store is located at the Americana at Brand mall in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.</p>
<p><a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/video-shows-wild-scene-at-americana-as-thieves-ransack-yves-saint-laurent-store/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Footage</a> from the Yves Saint Laurent incident shows over a dozen people mostly dressed in dark clothes, hoods, and masks dashing into the store and running out again, their arms full of the expensive merchandise.</p>
<p>In response to the string of robberies, Los Angeles launched a new task force focused on combatting organized retail theft.</p>
<p>Last week, the new task force <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-crime-task-force-arrests-11-linked-to-smash-and-grab-robberies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> 11 people in connection with the recent smash-and-grab robberies, included some who were allegedly involved in the Nordstrom and Yves Saint Laurent store robberies.</p>
<p>Detectives on the new task force are investigating at least nine cases involving organized retail crimes.</p>
<p>In Los Angeles, most types of violent crime are down except theft, which is up 15% to over 20,000 thefts compared to this time last year, <a href="https://lapdonlinestrgeacc.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/lapdonlinemedia/cityprof.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to police data.</p>
<p>Since the fall of 2021, Los Angeles County, which includes Pasadena where the jewelry store robbery occurred, has seen at least 170 organized retail thefts, including the smash-and-grab trend, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/los-angeles-moves-crack-down-retail-theft-epidemic-task-force" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.</p>
<p>Other West Coast cities have seen a spike in retail theft this year as well, including San Francisco and Seattle.</p>

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Another California Smash-And-Grab Sees Thieves Make Off With Half A Million Dollars In Jewelry