Tom GantertSan Francisco, CA – Critics are blaming California’s “no arrest” policy for the wholesale looting of a San Francisco Walgreens by a group of masked shoplifters (video below).
The San Francisco Police Department told Blue Lives Matter that the incident occurred at about 1 p.m. on Feb. 29 at the Walgreens located on Ocean Avenue.
Cell phone video filmed by a cashier at the Walgreens showed three people dressed in black and wearing hoodies standing near each other in the cosmetic section of the store.
They were also wearing white medical masks to hide their faces, the video showed.
The video showed the thieves very carefully cleared the store’s shelves and put the items into large bags they’d brought with them.
A woman off camera said “Oh my god” as she watched the looting.
“Please leave the stuff” a woman later identified as an employee said from off camera as the suspected continued to load their bags without missing a beat.
One of the robbers left the store with a full red bag on her shoulder and brushed past another customer who was entering the store, the video showed.
The woman turned and looked at the masked person, and rushed to the cashier.
“Oh my god,” the woman said. “Call the police.”
KMEL said the robbers, who looked to be women, were calm and organized as they pilfered the pricey cosmetic options as customers and employees watched.
The police were called and officers responded to the drugstore, but the San Francisco PD said the thieves had already fled.
California’s passing of Proposition 47 in 2014, which made nonviolent offenses such as shoplifting misdemeanors instead of felonies, has been blamed for the surge in retail theft in recent years.
Shoplifting of items valued at up to $950 is now a misdemeanor unless the defendant has been previously convicted of murder, rape, and some sex offenses, according to[ Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_47,Reduced_Penalties_for_Some_Crimes_Initiative(2014%29).
KOVR reported in September of 2019 that police said Prop 47 had created an increase in organized retail theft.
“It’s a boldness like we’re seeing never before and just a disregard for fellow human beings,” Vacaville Police Lieutenant Mark Donaldson told KOVR.
Lt. Donaldson said that shoplifting has increased statewide.
Police told Blue Lives Matter they have no yet made any arrests in connection with the incident.
Watch the Walgreens get looted in the video below: