{"id":1112814,"date":"2021-12-12T21:58:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T02:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1112814"},"modified":"2021-12-12T21:58:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T02:58:34","slug":"lightfoots-chicago-smash-and-grab-thieves-steal-1-million-in-merchandise-from-auto-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lightfoots-chicago-smash-and-grab-thieves-steal-1-million-in-merchandise-from-auto-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightfoot&#039;s Chicago: Smash and Grab Thieves Steal $1 Million in Merchandise from Auto Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flightfoots-chicago-smash-and-grab-thieves-steal-1-million-in-merchandise-from-auto-gallery%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1112814&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The smash and grab crime wave happened upon an exotic car dealership in Chicago this weekend, where two people reportedly stole up to $1 million in merchandise.<\/p>\n<p>The robbery occurred on Saturday afternoon at the Gold Coast Auto Gallery in the upscale Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago. The two men allegedly stole millions of dollars in luxury watches. One man stood by the door with a gun while the other smashed the display cases with a hammer.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Joe Petito, the dealership owner, said his armed security did not engage because the perpetrator did not raise his gun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was smart enough not to raise the gun because my people had guns,\u201d Petito <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox32chicago.com\/news\/man-smashes-glass-case-at-ritzy-chicago-business-runs-out-with-merchandise\">told<\/a> Fox 32. \u201cIf he raised that gun, he would have been shot. We\u2019d probably be in court defending ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Man smashes glass case at Gold Coast Auto Gallery, takes off with a million dollars worth of watches\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JLFhHWv29i8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>As many as ten customers, including children, were in the gallery at the time of the robbery, which happened in less than 20 seconds. The dealership has since been locked down and now welcomes customers by appointment only. Police have not captured the suspects.<\/p>\n<p>The smash and grab crime wave has severely&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/das-retailers-say-california-needs-stronger-shoplifting-law\/\">impacted<\/a>&nbsp;retail outlets this past year, with up to tens of billions of dollars in losses, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNational retail groups last month estimated the annual losses to be in the&nbsp;tens of billions of dollars,\u201d <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.buysafeamerica.org\/impact-of-organized-retail-crime-and-product-theft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">reported<\/a> the AP. \u201cSome states\u2019 attorney generals are <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/press\/dem\/releases\/durbin-cassidy-grassley-hirono-coons-tillis-introduce-bill-to-ensure-greater-transparency-for-third-party-sellers-of-consumer-products-online\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">supporting<\/a> a congressional bill&nbsp;that would require more prevention efforts by large online marketplaces, where experts say many of the stolen goods are fenced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This month, authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area conducted what they described as&nbsp;\u201cone of the largest retail theft busts in California history,\u201d uncovering upwards of $8 million worth of merchandise from CVS, Target, and Walgreens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis level of violence has taken it to a whole new level,\u201d Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association,&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/12\/03\/business\/retailers-robberies-theft.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">told<\/a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em>. \u201cNo one has seen this before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CEOs from Target, CVS, and Walgreens recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/ceos-from-target-cvs-and-walgreens-ask-congress-for-help-amid-retail-crime-surge-11639158462\">asked<\/a> Congress for help in fighting the crime wave in an open letter:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"13\">\n<p>While we constantly invest in people, policies, and innovative technology to deter theft, criminals are capitalizing on the anonymity of the Internet and the failure of certain marketplaces to verify their sellers. This trend has made retail businesses a target for increasing theft, hurt legitimate businesses who are forced to compete against unscrupulous sellers, and has greatly increased consumer exposure to unsafe and dangerous counterfeit products.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_18237762\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lori-lightfoot-chicago-obama-center-sept-2021-ap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18237762\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lori-lightfoot-chicago-obama-center-sept-2021-ap.jpg\" alt=\"lori light in chicago\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Charles Rex Arbogast)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot went as far as to blame retailers for the spike, arguing that they have not invested enough in security and surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still have retailers that won\u2019t institute plans like having security officers in their stores, making sure that they\u2019ve got cameras that are actually operational, locking up their merchandise at night, chaining high-end bags. These purses can be something that is attracting a lot of organized retail theft units,\u201d Lightfoot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/economy\/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-blames-retailers-smash-grab-thefts\">said <\/a>Monday last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The smash and grab crime wave happened upon an exotic car dealership in Chicago this weekend, where two people reportedly stole up to $1 million in merchandise. The robbery occurred &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1112814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}