Video emerges of shoplifting raid on luxury department store in San Francisco

Footage appears amid criticism of city officials over apparent rise in robberies

Footage of a robbery at Neiman Marcus on Monday (SFStreets415/Instagram)

A video has emerged of a shoplifting raid on a department store in San Francisco in which expensive designer bags were stolen by thieves.

According to the footage, as many as 10 thieves took part in the raid on the city’s Neiman Marcus store on Monday evening.

It shows the thieves run from the front of the department store holding stolen items in their hands. Getaway cars appeared to be waiting.

The goods included designer handbags worth hundreds of dollars. As CBS San Francisco reported, the items had anti-theft tags attached.

San Francisco introduced a law in 2014 in which the theft of items worth less than $950 (£689) were downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanour.

It has been alleged that security and retail staff refuse to confront thieves who have taken items worth less than the $950 figure, because of that law.

“SF Streets”, the Instagram user who shared the footage of the Neiman Marcus raid, wrote that theft in the city was “legal basically and allowed and tolerated due to policies put in place and supported by all our supervisors and mayor and district attorney”.

They also called for the removal of San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin from office and wrote that “everyone in the city is tired of this”.

It is not the first time Mr Boudin has faced calls to stand down, amid a rise in reports of thefts.

It is not clear what all of the stolen items were worth together, and San Fransisco’s police department is investigating.

According to the California Retailers Association, the city is the fifth worst in the country for retail theft.