Kids in Chanel Heists: Retail Epidemic

0:00On April 5th, a seven-year-old girl and a woman in a flowery headscarf pulled off a slick theft of a 6,000-pound pink Chanel handbag from A, boutique and Cobb and Surrey. Security cameras caught the kids spotting the bag without a tag, signaling the adult who hid it behind a plant. Then the whole crew, two more women and another child, pretended to shop dresses before the woman stuffed it under her robes and they bounced after. Browsing four more minutes, these all-female gangs with kids under 10 are hitting high in spots hard, using the little ones as decoys to distract staff. boutique owner Pays Manger says her shops in Cobb and Wimbledon get targeted weekly, with these snatching luxury pre-love bags that are skyrocketing in value like collector items. One crew even swiped a security tag remover from under the counter for future hits. Manger's calls it a shoplifting epidemic. Turning violent, traumatizing staff. One assistant quit after a raid left her shaking. She's confronted politicians and police on air, blasting them for ignoring clear CCTV footage.

1:05Kids this young are victims, she says, pulled into crime by organized pros who see handbags as better scores than cash or jewels. Police probes are spotty. Surrey ignored reports until Mangers win viral on social media and the Metropolitan is looking into one doll wielding. Girl's Deft. She sunk a fortune into alarms, locked doors and private security, now planning intercom buzzers to vet customers. This wave of bold heist shows retailers fighting solo while crime surges across Britain but voices like Mangers keep pushing for real change.