An organized robbery in Santana Row's Lululemon store on Sunday night has San Jose police on high alert, officials said Monday.
"We're not going to forget about it. We're going to investigate it," SJPD spokesperson Christian Camarillo said. "The number one mission is to is find them, arrest and bring them back here."
At around 6:30 p.m., four people broke into the high-end athletic apparel store and stole $40,000 worth of merchandise.
Camarillo said the four suspects were two women and two men. One of the suspects was seen with a firearm in his waistband.
After the suspects raided the store, they got away in a waiting vehicle before law enforcement arrived on the scene. Camarillo did not provide any description about the get-away vehicle, wary of revealing too much about the ongoing investigation.
The San Jose break-in follows a number of reported robberies across the Bay Area around the same time.
On Sunday, about 40 to 50 people were reported to have broken into Sam's Jewelers in Hayward's Southland Mall. On Saturday, 80 people stormed Nordstrom in Walnut Creek. And on Friday, The Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco's Union Square was hit in a brazen smash-and-grab robbery.
Camarillo said he could only comment on what happened in San Jose - avoiding questions about whether these series of break-ins were related.
However, he noted that there is likely a larger organized robbery scheme in San Jose.
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At the same time as the Santana Row break-in, suspicious activity was reported across the street at Valley Fair mall, where four to five cars were seen driving without license plates.
"Common sense would dictate what was going on and Valley Fair at the same time it was going on across the street at Lululemon are more than likely related to each other," Camarillo said.
The potential for robbery at the North San Jose mall was prevented because mall security noticed the suspicious activity.
Still, there were some items taken from Sunglass Hut.
"We don't know how it happened or how those folks got in there," Camarillo said. "But they saw law enforcement, they left."
Camarillo said it's the first time San Jose has been hit with organized robbery like this and will hopefully be the last time.
During the holiday season, shopping centers do have additional security but it's unclear whether SJPD will beef up security more after this incident.
"We're obviously not going to share planning tactics, anything like that," Camarillo said. "What I will share... is we are not going to put up with it here in San Jose."
Camarillo also noted that if residents do see suspicious activity to report it right away and avoid confrontation as "it is not worth you losing your life or being seriously hurt for a material item."
And for those who have participated in organized crime, or are looking to do so, Camarillo's message was clear: "We will come after you, we will find you and we will arrest you."
