Flash Robberies: Teenage Flash Mobs Swarm And Rob Convenience Stores (VIDEO)

Security cameras and the light of day are no match for these scheming teenagers.

In a blend of mischief, strength in numbers and social media, so-called "flash robs" -- when large groups of teenagers organize to meet and loot stores en masse -- are turning up across the country.

Footage of these mass robberies show excited groups of young people essentially overwhelming shop owners as they casually grabb items off the shelves before fleeing the scene too fast for authorities to respond.

Given social media's clear power as an organizational tool, some experts attribute the rise in this crime technique to the networking power of the Web.

"Young people are risk takers; they do things in groups far more than adults do,” Scott Decker, professor of criminology at Arizona State University, told Fox News. "A medium like Twitter plays into the characteristics of young person’s behavior."

Incidents have been reported in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Las Vegas and Minnesota.

For more, check out this report from ABC News.

WATCH:

Comments

[MendingFences]

05:01 PM on 08/19/2011

This trend will only increase and worsen unless of course something is done to stop it. I am guessing all the people that push "tolerance" will make excuses for these people. Political correctness has removed the spine of most Americans. I suggest that store owners carry lots of ammo and shoot the looters. That will discourage more looting. We cannot allow lawlessness to grow unabated. Our leaders continue to wring their hands cluelessly and offer us no solutions. Hard solutions are required for hard times. This is one of the reasons that we have the 2nd Amendment. Under normal circumstances I am against the use of firearms when defending personal property but this is now on a scale much larger than simple theft. Left unchecked, this mob robbery will become mob riots and vigilantiism. How come our president doesn't address this issue directly?

[Deanne Conrad]

09:00 AM on 06/28/2011

OMG! This is on the Huffington Post? I thought they only post white-collar or the "fat cat banker" crimes! Did they consult Soros or Obama before they published this!?!?

[breckandy]

09:03 PM on 06/27/2011

Let's try them under the RICO laws for organized crime.
These are not youths as I know them.

[Mark Jc]

08:13 PM on 06/26/2011

smile for the camera, idiots

[catscan1]

10:47 PM on 06/21/2011

Punks! If I say any more, it may get booted.

[breckandy]

09:04 PM on 06/27/2011

Not if you don't mention anything else they all seem to have in common. :-)

[wilray]

04:43 AM on 06/21/2011

These flash rob may wind up making convenient stores a little less convenient. Businesses may ultimately fight back by having patrons having to be buzzed in just like with exclusive high end boutiques. Basically, they will be redesigned with a way of preventing flash robs from occurring. Unfortunately, that may also lead to opportunities for discrimination. When holes to security are plugged, it always leads to a permanent state of less convenience. I can remember a time before the first hijacking of a U.S. airliner. Yes, I've dated myself. All the security measures (and inconveniences) that we have today did not exist prior to that. You could basically just walk on to a plane. All the screening that we have today was nonexistent. You didn't even go through a metal detector. The first hijacking ushered in a new era of security. People began to arrive at the airport sooner to go through all the screening. Prior to that a last minute arrival could just walk onto a plane. While these kids are having their fun now, they insure that their generation will look back whist-fully on the time when you could just walk into a store and get served.

[Heatherjonnnas]

09:44 PM on 06/29/2011

You think this is bad? LOL wait till the black and Mexican populations outnumber the white and Asian populations (should happen by 2025 by extrapolating current trends) in America. People will look back and say, "wow in these flash mobs no one got murdered or raped?"

[Big Ze]

05:31 PM on 06/20/2011

This is NOTHING NEW. The million man rush was pioneered by crews in NYC decades ago. The key these moronic kids are missing here is NOT GETTING CAUGHT.

[Jeanine ONeal]

03:46 PM on 06/20/2011

Kids these days think everything is free. They don't understand economics or responsibility. Someone has to pay for the items they stole. It isn't right that a responsible adult business owner has to pay for these kids' actions. I wouldn't work at a convenience store unless I had a gun and permission to use it (threateningly, not lethally).

[Th3 5p3ctr3]

03:52 PM on 06/20/2011

Yeah, cuz the gun somehow makes you able to deal with a MOB of possibly armed teenagers...good thinking.

You're right, this is some bogus stuff, but a gun won't improve things.

[Jeanine ONeal]

04:13 PM on 06/20/2011

No, it wouldn't stop them from robbing the store, but it would make me feel safer. Those poor employees had no line of defense if things went bad.

[breckandy]

09:09 PM on 06/27/2011

They understand Obamanomics.
and BTW
Never point a gun at something you don't intend to kill.

[ZachsMind]

03:14 PM on 06/20/2011

okay so these supposed "tech savvy" young people don't know about closed circut cameras recording them stealing crap & fleeing? We american are just growing stupider by the day, aren't we? Terrorists don't need to destroy our society. All they have to do is wait. We'll destroy ourselves. Yay. \o/ ..AND GET OFF THE LAWN!

[Th3 5p3ctr3]

03:50 PM on 06/20/2011

Protip: No law enforcement agency is going to devote the resources to arresting, lining up, weeding out and identifying the thieves within the crowd (guarantee only some of them actually stole stuff) based on surveillance video footage. Not for petty theft.

[arscuore]

01:24 PM on 06/21/2011

Actually, the cops are now using facebook to track perps in situations like this, and let the community tell them who did it. Doesn't take much effort on their part.

[Ravensmith]

11:29 PM on 06/22/2011

Believe it or not, these kids are dumber than you think. They will post their crimes and ill-gotten gains on facebook and tweet to all their homeboys and girls what they just did. All the cops have to do is get a warrant and look at their facebook pages.