Up to 10 burglars smash doors, grab $100,000 in goods from Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza

A large group of burglars smashed into Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa early Wednesday and quickly made off with more than $100,000 in merchandise, police said.

Eight to 10 people were seen on security camera footage shattering the glass doors at the upscale department store at 3:47 a.m., Costa Mesa police Sgt. Dan Miles said.

Once inside, the group took handbags and jewelry and loaded the goods into three waiting cars and a U-Haul truck, police said.

The burglars were in and out in about five minutes, according to Miles.

“With eight to 10 people, it did a lot of damage,” he said.

The group fled north on the 405 Freeway, Miles said.

Police did not immediately have descriptions of the burglars, other than that they were wearing hooded sweatshirts.

Bloomingdale’s opened at its normal time Wednesday morning, according to Jaime Strong, a store spokeswoman.

The company is working with police as they investigate, she said.

“Our biggest concern is the safety of our employees and customers,” Strong said.

South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said in a statement that “because of the ongoing police investigation into the break-in at Bloomingdale’s, we are respectfully declining to comment at this time.”