Brentwood : Clothing Store Looted

A large group of teen-agers swarmed into a Brentwood Village clothing store and made off with from $25,000 to $50,000 worth of merchandise Saturday, owner Richard Lawrence said.

“It looked like a busload of tourists was dropped off in front of the store,” Lawrence said of the Halloween marauders. “It happened so fast. They kept filing in and there was no way to stop it. They were just picking up stacks of merchandise.”

He said the thieves, numbering 18 to 25 in number, were dressed in baggy jeans, bulky jackets and overcoats. Some carried duffel bags to store their loot.

“They weren’t homeless-looking people,” he said. “They looked like teen-age gangs.”

The incident passed without violence, but Lawrence said he is now operating behind locked doors and thinking about closing the shop, Richard Lawrence Menswear, which offers $125 jeans, suits averaging $950 and pants for $349.

“We called the police immediately and it took them half an hour to even get here,” Lawrence said.

According to an LAPD detective, similar incidents have been reported elsewhere, but not on the same scale.

“It’s happened a lot since the riots,” said Detective Petti, who declined to give his first name.

Although the LAPD has only one patrol car to cover the area north of Wilshire Boulevard between the San Diego Freeway and the ocean, Petti said, merchants should try to summon police if they spot suspicious groups.

“If we have any patrol resources free, they can get up there before they hit,” Petti said. “Once they come into the store and swarm and walk out, what are you going to do against 18 people?”