WASHINGTON — Police are searching for more than a dozen people who participated in a brazen Chanel store theft in Northwest D.C. on Sunday. According to a police report, 15 people, all in masks and hoods, stole handbags and other merchandise from the store using a fire extinguisher as a distraction.
DC Police officers were called to the Chanel at 955 I Street Northwest around 3 p.m. on Feb. 12 to investigate a report of a theft. A witness told the responding officers that a large group of people entered the store at once, and one of them sprayed a fire extinguisher inside, "causing a disturbance and loud noise," the police report says.
The masked suspects then reportedly took merchandise from inside the store and took off on foot and in a black four-door Acura SUV and a white Infiniti G35, according to police. The police report did not estimate the value of the merchandise stolen, or say exactly what was taken in the theft.
Police released surveillance video Monday in hopes of getting help from the public to identify and locate the suspects.
The video starts with showing a white vehicle driving by the store before cutting to footage taken outside of the 15 suspects running into the store. All of the suspects are seen wearing hoods covering their faces.
Once inside the store, the video captures the chaos that ensued as the suspects used fire extinguishers to fill the store with a fog of chemical foam. During the distraction, the suspects appear to grab handbags and other Chanel merchandise.
Chanel handbags can retail for hundreds to thousands of dollars a piece.
Surveillance cameras captured some of the suspects and the two vehicles used. DC Police released still images on Monday.
All suspects are wanted for first-degree theft, according to the report.
Anyone who may have information about this case should contact DC Police at 202-727-9099 or text the department's tip line at 50411.