By Mary O’KEEFE

Glendale Police Chief Manny Cid updated the Glendale City Council on Tuesday night on the task force Glendale Police Dept. has joined in combating the type of flash mob burglaries that have been occurring throughout the area.

Flash mob burglaries have occurred recently in Glendale, Beverly Hills, Arcadia, Los Angeles and other areas. The “mobs” enter the store and very quickly grab what they can and run away. The Glendale flash mob burglary occurred at Yves Saint Laurent in the Americana at Brand on Aug. 8. At least 30 suspects “flooded the store” in the afternoon. The suspects stole clothing and other merchandise before fleeing on foot then leaving the location in numerous vehicles. They stole about $300,000 worth of items.

“As of last week [GPD] joined a region-wide task force being led by the Los Angeles Police Department. Ourselves, LA County Sheriff’s, Beverly Hills and Burbank Police departments [are part of the task force]. [GPD] has dedicated a couple of our staff members. We did some reorganizing within our organization to allow [us] to join that task force and it’s off and running,” Cid said. “As we announced last week we had the first arrest that was related to our Glendale crime and have an active arrest warrant for a second suspect.”

Without going into too much detail, Cid said at least three or four other individuals involved in the Americana flash mob burglary have been identified.

He added the goal of the GPD is to identify, locate, arrest and prosecute those involved and eventually dismantle the mob.

GPD is using the Flock camera system as well as having a “presence” at the Americana to help deter burglary activity.

“At the end of the day it is really about our staff doing tremendous work. We are finding how to do more with less,” he said.

GPD, like many law enforcement agencies, has several hiring opportunities. The department’s e-bike patrol recently arrested three females who apparently were “casing” Nordstrom. After an investigation it was found the three had about $30,000 worth of purses and other items in their vehicle. They had allegedly burglarized other stores.

When asked about the location of the individual who was arrested for the recent Glendale flash mob burglary, Cid said that he was arrested and booked on four felony counts.

“Unfortunately for different medical reasons and psychological challenges we needed to transfer that individual to LA County jail system. Unfortunately LASD was unwilling and unable to take the transfer because of their emergency bail policy,” he said.

The suspect was released and is scheduled to be in court in mid-September.

On the night of the Glendale City Council meeting (Tuesday), GPD Special Enforcement Detail conducted a traffic stop on a car with a broken windshield violation. A vehicle search revealed merchandise worth several thousand dollars belonging to Victoria’s Secret and Express at the Glendale Galleria. Both stores had been victimized earlier in the day and the stolen merchandise in the suspect’s vehicle matched the items stolen. The driver had multiple warrants for his arrest and was found possessing burglary tools, according to a GPD statement.