Delta Construction & Electric Co. which has steel gates and roll-down doors was the victim of a crash-and-grab robbery on Wednesday. A mob of young people slammed a stolen car through the gates and looted their warehouse in a pre-dawn raid.

Los Angeles businessman Ryan Baggaley and his three brothers run the Los Angeles-based construction company his father founded 50 years ago.

It took the “underfunded” police over 2 hours to respond to the 911 call.  By the time they arrived, the thieves were gone, taking an estimated $100,000 in tools and personal valuables the brothers kept inside. This includes musical instruments and studio equipment. 

"The rage that me and my brothers have," he said. "You work so hard just to survive and make a living, and oh, cool, you just bashed our whole building up."

Baggaley went on to say that he wouldn’t be voting Democrat in the future because of the city’s rampant crime, and failure to protect businesses.

He wondered if they did catch the thieves if they would even bother prosecuting them. 

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Brazen Crash-and-Grab Robbery 

In recent times, a disturbing crime wave has gripped brick-and-mortar establishments across the country – the ominous surge of ram-raiding or crash-and-grab robberies.

 These audacious thefts involve perpetrators driving vehicles through storefront windows, leaving destruction in their wake as they brazenly loot their targeted premises.

Dubbed "drive-through burglaries" by The Wall Street Journal, this escalating trend has spared no type of store, from small boutiques like Rush Hour to high-end luxury outlets and massive, big box chains. 

The criminals, often operating in stolen vehicles, use them as battering rams, crashing through storefronts and leaving a trail of devastation.

The modus operandi typically unfolds in the early morning hours, catching shopkeepers off guard as they arrive to commence their day only to be met with the aftermath of significant damage.

From Seattle to St. Louis

 Seattle has witnessed a series of such incidents, prompting the Seattle Police Public Information Officer Juddina Gulpan to acknowledge the recurring use of vehicles to ram into businesses for theft.

Another incident occurred at Osage County Guns in St. Louis suburbs, where a group of teenagers crashed through steel front doors, causing over $200,000 in damages and making off with more than 30 guns valued at $28,000.

 The store manager, John Dawson, expressed concerns about the lack of political will to prosecute these crimes, highlighting that the suspects were all under 17 years old.

Retail Challenges

This growing crime trend compounds the existing challenges faced by brick-and-mortar store owners, exacerbated by catch-and-release and no-bail policies.

 Retail theft, already a significant issue, cost the industry $94.5 billion in 2021, with organized retail crime increasing by 26.5%, affecting more than 80% of National Retail Federation members.

As these crash-and-grab robberies continue to escalate, there is a pressing need for increased security measures and better police involvement to provide much-needed relief to the beleaguered retail sector.