Gone in 30 Seconds: Watch Mob Boldly Ransack Store, Steal $30K of Merchandise

You may be familiar with the concept of a “flash mob” and have probably run across a video of one on the internet. Usually, they’re pretty...

You may be familiar with the concept of a “flash mob” and have probably run across a video of one on the internet. Usually, they’re pretty neat because it typically involves a large group of people breaking into song or dance in a public place and stunning onlookers with a delightful performance.

But what you might not have known is that flash mobs are also being used for much more sinister purposes.

That’s what happened on Monday when a large flash mob entered a North Face store at Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

According to Kenosha News, Sgt. Aaron Schaffer of the Pleasant Prairie Police Department said that at 7:45 p.m. on Monday evening, “10 black males entered the store and each grabbed as much merchandise as they could carry before running to the cars and leaving the property.”

A surveillance video of the mass theft incident can be seen below.

The video clearly shows the flash mob thieves casually entering the retail store and within seconds they begin grabbing a variety of apparel items before running out — and it only took about 30 seconds.

Within that very short amount of time, the mob was able to run out with a staggering $30,000 worth of merchandise.

There were no physical confrontations, according to police.

One of the reasons these young men were bold enough to pull off the stunt is due to the fact that so many retail stores in America have policies that prevent store employees, or even store security, from pursuing thieves.

A security officer with a “Walmart-style retail chain” explained to curious users how best to steal from retail box stores without being caught by employees or security and part of the attraction is the “no chase” policy, according to Business Insider.

After reading that interview, my curiosity got the best of me so I performed a quick Google search that revealed even more disturbing information.

There are actually active communities on various internet forums that update users with the different types of policies the retail stores currently have, including the stores that don’t allow its employees to give chase.

And if you think retail theft doesn’t affect you, think again. 

In 2017, inventory “shrink,” or theft, cost companies a whopping $46.8 billion, according to Loss Prevention Magazine. That means higher prices for law-abiding citizens to make up for those losses.

As long as would-be thieves have ready access to information that can aid in their criminal ventures and as long as retail employees — including those in loss prevention — aren’t allowed to do anything but watch their products be taken, this kind of mass theft will, unfortunately, continue to happen.