A group of more than 100 looters crashed a car into a bakery near Los Angeles and trashed the store after an illegal street takeover in the dead of night on Tuesday.
The street takeover began around 3 a.m., and the group ended up at Ruben’s Bakery & Mexican Food about a mile away in Compton.
Someone backed a white Kia through the front doors of the bakery, ramming it into the store twice as a large group looters crowded around nearby, security footage shows.
A chaotic street takeover in Compton #California led to an outrageous break in that cost a local bakery at least $20,000
And California just made it a felony to conceal carry and protect yourselfpic.twitter.com/bHadAJskDu
— Ronald Kelly (@RonK3l) January 4, 2024
A bakery gets looted after a street takeover in Compton this morning. pic.twitter.com/PN9vnU3Z1R
— Los Angeles Scanner (@LosAngeles_Scan) January 2, 2024
Once inside, the looters, wearing masks or pulling their hoods over their faces, can be seen grabbing as much as they can from the store, jumping on counters and pushing past each other before fleeing. Some go straight for the cash register.
At one point, a woman appeared to try to stop the crowd from looting the store to no avail.
Photos from the aftermath show the store ransacked with open food containers lying on the ground. A metal grated window appears to have been destroyed by the car, and shattered glass lies on the ground as well. The damage amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Among the items stolen were meat scales, meat, groceries, and lotto tickets, according to Captain Melissa Ramirez of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
Just before the looting incident, police had been called twice about a car on fire and the street takeover outside the bakery.
No arrests appear to have been made related to the looting so far.
Street takeovers have been an ongoing problem in the Los Angeles area.
On Tuesday night, Compton’s mayor, Emma Sharif, a Democrat, urged the city council to approve an ordinance that would result in more citations for street takeovers.
“Ensuring the safety of businesses and residents in our city is our top priority,” Sharif said at the council meeting. “We need to vote on this so that we can actually start implementing the changes that’s been made in the policy.”
Compton residents spoke at the city council meeting as well, expressing their frustration with how often street takeovers occur, which often involve fires.
“So sick and tired of hearing this crap every single day,” one woman said.
In some cases, street takeovers can be deadly. In December 2022, a 27-year-old man was on a walk with his high school sweetheart when he was killed by a driver fleeing a street takeover nearby, police said.
Retail theft has also been a problem plaguing the Los Angeles area, especially organized mobs of thieves who descend on stores.