Shoppers flee in panic as youths raid busy Apple Store
A group of youths caused chaos as they raided a busy Apple store in the middle of the day on Sunday.
Video footage shows a security guard shove one person away from the shop door as at least seven others, dressed in black, storm in.
Panic then spread through shopped already inside the tech store in Brent Cross shopping centre, north London.
As the robbers plucked electronic devices off tables, parents with children fled outside.
Seconds after entering, the robbers then sprinted away with their haul. Six teenagers, aged between 14 and 18 have been arrested.
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘Six teenage boys have been arrested following a theft from a shop in Barnet after police arrived quickly at the scene.
‘Police were called at around 2.35pm on Sunday, January 5, to reports that a group had entered a shop in Brent Cross Shopping Centre before stealing a large number of mobile phones.
‘Officers attended and quickly made arrests a short time after the incident was reported to police.
‘The teenagers, all aged between 14-18, were all arrested on suspicion of robbery and taken to custody, where they remain for questioning. Enquiries continue.’
More than £15million was lost in stolen goods and money in London last year, according to police.
Shoplifting is at an all-time high, with 469,788 offences logged by police in the first six months of last year.
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It’s led to rising calls for the government to crack down on shoplifting, which staff says make them feel unsafe.
In the first king’s speech of Labour’s reign in July, the government promised to make attacking a shop worker a standalone offence.
Businesses don’t just have shoplifting to contend with.
Other brazen robberies in recent weeks include a masked pair who made off with £200,000 worth of luxury handbags and watches after forcing their way into a north London store.
A man was arrested after 900 wheels of cheese, weighing 22 tonnes in total, were stolen from Neal’s Yard Dairy in London.
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