A four-man shoplifting mob stormed a posh boutique in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Thursday afternoon and escaped with ten handbags worth an estimated $15,000, according to police. (Initial reports from the scene indicated that seven bags worth about $10,000 were taken.)
The men entered Saint Laurent at 11 East Walton just before 2 p.m., collected a selection of pricey women’s purses, and then fled to an SUV that was waiting outside, police said. One of the thieves wore a ski mask.
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Surveillance video showed the offenders are four black men in their 20’s. One wore black and white gym shoes, a dark hoodie, and jeans. Another wore tan Timberlands, light blue jeans, and a dark hoodie. The third wore a dark hoodie with sweatpants. And the fourth wore all black.
A witness said the men fled northbound on State Street in a black SUV bearing Michigan plates.
This isn’t the first time that thieves have hit the Saint Laurent store hard.
In August 2018, employees evacuated the shop following a robbery in which shoplifters pepper-sprayed a security guard while stealing $12,000 worth of purses.
Two months later, a robbery team took $64,000 worth of purses from the nearby Christian Dior store. Three people were arrested days later when they allegedly tried to sell one of those purses — valued at $34,000 — to an undercover cop for $9,000. One of the offenders received a prison sentence while two others got off with probation.
