Dozens Of Looters Target Nordstrom In Walnut Creek

WALNUT CREEK, CA — At least three people were arrested after around 100 looters descended on a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek Saturday night, according to media reports.

Just before 9 p.m. dozens of cars pulled up to 1200 Broadway Plaza to block off the street and rush into store. Footage posted to social media shows looters escaping with armfuls of goods and driving away.

A manager of a nearby PF Chang's described the chaotic scene to ABC7.

"We probably saw 50 to 80 people in ski masks crowbars a bunch of weapons. They were looting the Nordstrom's right here. And I thought they were going to start beating cars. I had to start locking doors lock the front door lock the back door," Brett Barrette told the station.

Three people were arrested and a firearm was recovered, police told ABC7.

An 18-year-old Oakland man and two people from San Francisco, ages 30 and 32, were taken into custody on suspicion of crimes that include burglary, robbery, conspiracy and possession of stolen property.

Two Nordstrom staffers were assaulted during the looting and one was pepper-sprayed, Walnut Creek police said.

NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez tweeted that she saw the thieves rush into the store in the downtown shopping district in the city some 20 miles northeast of San Francisco.

"About 25 cars just blocked the street and rushed into the Walnut Creek Nordstrom making off with goods before getting in cars and speeding away," Hernandez said on Twitter.

Nordstrom employees began calling 911 around 9 p.m. as thieves entered the store and began stealing merchandise, according to the Walnut Creek Police Department
“Walnut Creek Police investigators are in the process of reviewing surveillance footage to attempt to identify other suspects responsible for this brazen act,” the department said in Sunday's statement.

Nordstrom reopened as usual on Sunday.

The looting came a day after several high-end stores in San Francisco’s Union Square were broken into by a large group of people who smashed windows, stole merchandise, and then ran to waiting cars, police said.

The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.