How NYC looters pull off ‘well organized’ scheme to target high-end stores
The looters ransacking luxe stores in Soho appear to be large, rival groups engaged in a “very well-organized looting scheme,” according to a local who has been watching them across several days.
Jarrod Jordan told The Post he has monitored two groups — one of which has a caravan of luxury vehicles including Bentleys and Mercedes — as they prowled the neighborhood and broke into high-end stores amid the chaos of unrest over the police custody death of George Floyd.
“This is a real business. This isn’t angry protesters in any way shape or form,” said Jordan, who is a chief digital officer of a multinational food company.
“This is organized crime happening really, really well.”
He began to walk behind the looters Saturday night, staying up until 3:30 a.m. to figure out what they’re doing and how the operation was organized.
“What I quickly realized is they’re running this four-tier system,” said Jordan, who witnessed looting of stores including Chanel, Prada and Ray Ban.
People in cars — some of which have out-of-state plates — come to scout out the storefronts and take photos during the day. Then the same group of vehicles returns later in the evening with tools to break into stores, he said.
Meanwhile, there are younger members — he estimates between the ages of 16 and 22 — who work to distract the police, while others driving on motorized Revel electric scooters act as scouts, he said.
“They would relay information from where the distractors are [with the cops] over to the cars — who would then call over and reorganize other pods in other areas,” Jordan said, referring to the groups of looters on the ground.
The small packs of five to eight young men on the ground then come together, swelling to as large as 40 to attack the establishment, he said.
Meanwhile, one person stands across the street directing the looters — as someone on a CitiBike travels back and forth to inform them how much time they have until cops arrive to the scene, Jordan said.
During the break-in, the groups form an assembly line to pass their bounty into five to eight cars, he said.
“When the looters looted, they filled up the cars and the cars drove so the looters have their hands free to go on to the next place,” said Jordan.
“Once they know they’ve moved the cops over, they’ll come back.”
He said both of the groups appear to have “some sort of mutual respect to a certain extent” and are each running a “clearly, very well-organized looting scheme.”
“But every now and then I’ll see one of them clock the other and steal a bunch of product,” he added.
Jordan said he turned over some of his dramatic videos of the operations to NYPD — hoping they could help catch the roving gangs.
“I hope the crime bosses are stopped so the looting stops,” Jordan added. “The looters are just a bunch of young kids recruited to do the boss’ work.”
He believes the police need to surveil the cars entering the neighborhood instead of focusing on the looters on the ground.
“You’re playing whack-a-mole with them instead of setting up a perimeter of everyone who comes,” he said. “The cars are the key.”
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