It has been happening for years in Europe and New Zealand, and now, burglars and thieves across America are turning to ram-raiding, a dangerous and costly tactic for robbing businesses that entails crashing stolen cars or filched farming equipment into the buildings housing them.
Also known as a “Crash-and-Grab,” incidents of ram-raiding have increased across the United States, with recent rashes in California, Seattle, Chicago, and Missouri, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Whether it’s a weed shop in Seattle, a high-end jewelry store in San Francisco, or a gun shop in Wright City, Missouri, thieves are making off hundreds of thousands after plowing vehicles straight through the front entrances and windows of stores.
Most of these ram-raids happened in the early morning hours before a store is set to open, but there have been cases where such crimes have targeted businesses after they’ve closed for the day.
The Wall Street Journal report references these ram-raiding incidents as “drive-through burglaries.”
The destruction wrought by these crimes goes behind the stolen merchandise. Oftentimes, these stores and businesses have to close down for days, if not weeks, for repairs. Additionally, store owners have had to pay for expensive improvements to reinforce their businesses.
Many of the stolen cars used in these robberies are Kias after TikTokers exposed a vulnerability that makes the vehicles easily accessible. Usually, the smashed car is left behind as part of the mess.
Most of the stolen cars end up totaled. When caught, most of the offenders are released with negligible bail.
In late October, the Unique store in Chicago’s South Loop had a car full of thieves crash through its storefront one morning. The same thing happened a week later at the Louis Vuitton store on the Magnificent Mile, where fresh tire marks were still visible days later.
That same month, thieves crashed into the Reef Dispensary in Seattle at 3 a.m., making a getaway in an SUV. In September, a Kia crashed into a smoke shop, and the thieves made off with vaping devices and bongs.
Police in Missouri claim a group of teens used a car to bust into a gun shop last month, making off with thousands of dollars in guns and ammo.
Retail theft has been rising throughout the country, with the National Retail Federation reporting that American retailers lost more than $112 billion to retail theft and other inventory “shrink” in 2022.
Viral videos of flash mobs robbing stores have made national headlines for months, and images of goods locked in glass cases — or missing from store shelves altogether — abound on social media and in news reports.
Federal and state lawmakers passed laws this year to combat the problem. One of those laws, the INFORM Act — signed into law over the summer — required online marketplaces like Amazon to track high-volume sellers better to assist police with investigations into organized theft rings.
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