Video Shows Fire Extinguisher-Aided Robbery of High-End Store, Police Ask Public for Help

It’s would be beyond brazen — if it hadn’t already happened before.

According to a news release from the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, Dec. 17 robbery at the Chanel store in the upscale DCCityCenter was carried out by a gang armed with a fire extinguisher.

The release stated that “at approximately 5:30 p.m., five suspects entered a retail store” and set off the fire extinguisher as a distraction.

“One of the suspects discharged a fire extinguisher multiple times with its contents striking a Special Police Officer while the other suspects took merchandise from the store,” the release stated.

“The suspects then fled the scene” in a white sedan.

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According to Fox News, the gang made off with roughly $250,000 worth of merchandise from the luxury retailer.

A security officer fired a shot at the thieves as they were leaving, WRC-TV reported.

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“That round did not take effect. At this time, we do not have any property damage, nor do we have any reported injuries,” MPD Commander Tatjana Savoy told the station.

“We have our internal affairs on scene and they’re combing through, of course, interviews and video footage.”

And — would you believe it? — this isn’t the first time that the same store has been robbed in the same way.

“The same Chanel was robbed back in February,” WRC reported.

“A flash mob in that incident also set off a fire extinguisher to create a distraction.”

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The case remains “an ongoing investigation,” according to WTTG-TV.

One normally associates smash-and-grab robberies with California, which — thanks to lax law enforcement and generous laws regarding theft of any sort — has become the state synonymous with the act.

Chicago, too, is another popular scene for the crime:

In 2021, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot knew where the blame for this rash of robberies lay: With the stores, of course.

“I’m disappointed that [retailers] are not doing more to take safety and make it a priority,” she said.

“For example, we still have retailers that won’t institute plans like having security officers in their stores. Making sure that they’ve got cameras that are actually operational.”

Blaming the thieves — and only the thieves — apparently wasn’t an option.

Chicagoans rightly had enough of Lightfoot for a variety of reasons — including sky-high crime rates — and voted her out in 2023. Not that current Mayor Brandon Johnson is much better, but at least they had the common sense to throw her out.

As for Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser has been mayor since 2015 and things don’t seem to be improving, at least as of late. According to the Washington Business Journal, violent and property crime are up 40 percent and 25 percent year-over-year in 2023, respectively.

Now that this smash-and-grab is getting a smidgen of national attention, perhaps Bowser can pull a Lightfoot and blame a lack of fire extinguisher control laws for the District’s woes.

Whether that saves her from residents’ wrath, however, is anyone’s guess.


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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).

Birthplace

Morristown, New Jersey

Education

Catholic University of America

Languages Spoken

English, Spanish

Topics of Expertise

American Politics, World Politics, Culture



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