Crash and Burned: Cops Nab Chanel Crooks
Seven burglars were arrested on felony theft charges this morning after a smash-and-grab incident at the Chanel store at Highland Park Village.
The incident began about 6:20 a.m., when an off-duty officer saw two minivans near the Village that he assumed had been involved in an accident. He later found that one of them, a burgundy 2002 Dodge, had intentionally crashed into a display window on the west side of the store.
Both vans took off, but were later found abandoned — the Dodge in the 4400 block of Mockingbird Parkway and a white 1998 Plymouth (stolen out of Richardson) in an alley near Germany Park. The suspects split up and fled on foot.
Officers found two of them near Germany Park about 6:45 a.m., then discovered four more hiding in a backyard in the 4400 block of Potomac Avenue at 7:55. A seventh accomplice was apprehended after a call about a suspicious person just after 10 a.m. in the 4200 block of Normandy Avenue.
In all, police recovered 45 handbags — each with a value between $2,000 and $15,000 — along with one $1,400 pair of women’s shoes. Highland Park Department of Public Safety officials are working with Chanel staff to determine the amount and value of merchandise stolen.
