Criminal Geniuses

We're surprised this hasn't happened here:

• A massive street takeover in California led to a family-run business being overrun by looters over the weekend. During the alleged takeover, A-Z Market convenience store in Bellflower was broken into. The city is in southeast Los Angeles.

  A fundraiser for the family said, "A group of individuals used power tools to break through our front window and security gate." Surveillance video showed three suspects using tools to break the window's glass and cut a security gate lock, allowing up to 40 additional suspects to enter and ransack the business for two minutes before blending back into the takeover crowd, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said.  

So they didn't just block the streets - they blocked them strategically, knowing police couldn't (or wouldn't) enforce anything without plenty of warnings and public announcements via loudspeakers. Then they used power tools and the absence of any law enforcement to systematically loot the business, all while dozens of getaway cars were just doing their street takeover crap before fading away into the crowd.

Of course, if the business doesn't re-open in short order, they'll complain about a "food desert" or something similar.

But knowing that CPD isn't permitted to take enforcement action AND isn't allowed to chase, and after years of non-prosecution and a SAFE-T Act that frees criminals even before the Arresting Officers' shift is over, this ought to be a regular occurrence the way that driving stolen cars into storefronts was a thing just a few years ago.