Home NEWS Police/Fire Laptop Thieves Strike At Danville Starbucks Tuesday; Customers Give Chase

Laptop Thieves Strike At Danville Starbucks Tuesday; Customers Give Chase

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Computer gear recovered by police after a recent coffeehouse theft in Berkeley. Photo: Berkeley PD

A crew of thieves struck a popular local hangout in Danville Tuesday, sweeping a laptop computer off a table after attempting to rob a waiting customer and fleeing to a waiting car with the victim – and other customers and employees – giving chase.

The latest strike by crews of thieves targeting high-priced electronic gear at local coffeeshops appears to signal ongoing interest in electronics theft by area crime crews who value them for their re-sale value and the relative ease with which the gear can be acquired.

The three men involved in Tuesday’s theft – described loosely as two black males and a third man of unknown race – fled with their loot to a waiting Nissan Altima (Lic. No. 7QKE078) and appear to have made it out of the area. As in other recent incidents, the theft was not without resistance as patrons of the Starbucks store at 398 Hartz Ave., pursued the thieves out of the business and into the street.

Other efforts by patrons to retrieve stolen electronics have ended in fisticuffs and bumps and bruises as thieves have taken to having “reinforcements” waiting in trailing cars to deal with customers who put up a fight.

No injuries appear to have been suffered in Tuesday’s incident.

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