Police Nab 6 Suspects in Flash-Mob Robbery at LA County Mall; 6 Still at Large

Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga mall in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2023. Jill McLaughlin/The Epoch Times

Police arrested six suspects Oct. 4 in connection with a flash-mob robbery at two stores in the Westfield Topanga mall, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Six other suspects are still being sought.

Police alleged the suspects ran into stores and stole more than $90,000 in merchandise within minutes at about 5:15 p.m. Friday.

A video shared on social media showed masked thieves stealing purses and clothing from the Valentino outlet near the Nordstrom department store.

The thieves were wearing hooded sweatshirts when they overwhelmed security and knocked over several display shelves, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The LAPD Organized Retail Crime Task Force responded to the mall Friday night and worked with other officers and mall security to identify potential suspects.

Within five hours, officers located and detained one of the suspected vehicles used in the robbery. Five people inside the vehicle were considered suspects, including two juveniles.

The suspects were arrested and charged with robbery.

Joshua Jones, 22, of Los Angeles, was booked and held on $1.1 million bail.

Amaya McDonald, 19, and Justin Jones, 18, both of Los Angeles, were booked into jail and held on $150,000 bail.

Just before midnight, Huntington Beach police located a second vehicle allegedly connected with the robbery. Officers found stolen property that detectives verified was taken from the Topanga mall.

Rajene Robinson, 26, of Los Angeles, was inside the car. She was arrested and booked on felony possession of stolen property.

Police are still looking for six other suspects in the case, according to LAPD Officer Drake Madison.

Retailers at the Westfield Topanga mall have been hit with flash-mob robberies in the past.

In August 2023, about 30 thieves wearing hoodies and ski masks, some carrying knives, swarmed the Nordstrom store at the mall, located in the Canoga Park neighborhood.

They stole about $300,000 worth of high-end merchandise before running out and jumping into several waiting vehicles.

The incident lasted less than two minutes, according to officers.

“They targeted handbags and high-end stuff they know they can sell,” Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Sgt. Bruce Borihanh told the Epoch Times at the time.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in July that eight people involved in “smash and grab” robberies at high-end retail stores—including the Topanga mall Nordstrom robbery in August 2023—in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties were sentenced to one to 10 years in prison.

The defendants pleaded guilty to robberies, theft, and burglaries that total over $1.7 million at Nordstrom, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, and Magnolia Park, an upscale boutique in Burbank.

“This was not a one-off shoplifting offense, it was a dangerous coordinated scheme,” Bonta said in a statement in July. “These crimes hurt our businesses and pose a serious threat to our communities.”