Photograph courtesy of Carlsbad Police

Carlsbad detectives uncovered multiple designer handbags at a residence in Los Angeles, including classic Louis Vuitton pieces valued at thousands on the secondary market.

Picture this: You finish a workout at 24 Hour Fitness, head to Target for a quick errand, and leave your shopping cart unattended for just a moment. When you return, your gym bag — complete with sweaty clothes, headphones, and designer sunglasses — is gone. Stolen. Yes, even your sweaty gym bag isn’t safe in San Diego. Or rather, my sweaty gym bag. But I’m not the only victim. Arturo Gonzalez, a local influencer, had it worse in 2020 when his designer Coach fanny pack was snatched while he was wearing it as he covered the downtown San Diego riots on Facebook Live. And if dudes' gym bags and fanny packs are fair game, what about designer purses? Spoiler alert, but not really: women’s designer handbags and wallets are indeed a prime target for thieves— and the thieves are striking more often than you might think.

Photograph of Asteria by Mike Madriaga

Once upon a time, a purse snatcher was probably after whatever cash might be inside. But in the Age of Instagram, thh brand is its own reward. Luxury handbags and wallets from brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Gucci, and Dior have become irresistible targets for thieves in San Diego County. These high-stakes crimes highlight the relentless demand for designer goods — whether secondhand treasures or status symbols so coveted they can spark significant consequences. Let's take a look at 2024: The Year of the Bag Bandits.

Christmas calamity

The irresistible lure of a Louis Vuitton wallet recently spoiled a San Diego family's Christmas. Early in the morning on December 5 of last year, someone broke into Andrea Nicole’s late-model Kia in front of her home in Fairmount Park and stole her black Louis Vuitton wallet from the car's center console. “It was a $1500 wallet,” she told me in a December 23 interview. “It was definitely not in my price range, as it was a gift I had received the year prior.” The wallet, bearing a silver LV insignia and long enough to hold unfolded bills, contained her rent money for December.

The thieves bypassed the alarm and door locks, likely via a method popularized by the Kia Boys on the TikTok app in the last couple of years. “I have learned that Kia’s are burglary magnets, they have ways to bypass locks and start the engine easier than other cars.” Losing the wallet was painful, but losing what was inside was much worse. “The wallet also contained gift cards, health insurance cards for my children and me, and SENTRI cards to cross back and forth from Mexico at a faster pace,” she said. “All the cards were reported, and the police were already involved.”

Later that Thursday, Nicole posted an update on NextDoor: “I have video surveillance of them … The surveillance shows the original individuals using my cards.” She posted photos and video of a “Hispanic woman” wearing an all-black outfit with white accents and an “Asian male” wearing a blue jacket, a red shirt, and black pants — shopping at the World Food Supermarket on 52nd Street and El Cajon Boulevard in City Heights. The couple then spoke to a security guard before walking out with a cart full of groceries. The woman drove an older Lexus ES250, and the male drove a Dodge Ram truck. They then traveled to other stores in the area to use her cards.

“High-traffic areas near entrances and exits of the malls are prime spots for purse snatchers,” J. Alcala explained. “They can quickly grab a bag and escape before anyone can react.”

On December 8, Nicole got a notification on her phone regarding someone attempting to run her credit card. “It was just made at 1:07 pm by a black male,” she posted on NextDoor, “now pictured below at City Heights Market, Jack in the Box, and several other spots. Possibly, the original duo trashed my cards, or they passed them off. I took descriptions of the individual from the merchants, canvassed the street, and found him.” She posted photos of the man in question, “recovered one of my stolen debit cards, and once again called the police to report, and they never showed. My goal is to get as much of my personal and kids’ information off the street, and so far, I got one card.”

Things got a little better for Nicole and her family as Christmas neared: “I was refunded all of the funds to my credit and debit cards with fraud claims and the addition of the police report number." But the rent money and the Louis Vuitton wallet were still missing.

Carlsbad bling ring

On November 15, Carlsbad police responded to a residential burglary after a homeowner, who was out of town, received an alert from his security cameras. The footage showed two suspects wearing gloves, hoodies, and bandanas in his backyard. The suspects accessed the second-story balcony and broke in through a window. Once inside, they stole luxury handbags, $10,000 in cash, passports, and Social Security cards from an unlocked safe.

Officers documented the scene and transferred the case to the Property Crimes Unit, which quickly identified a suspect vehicle. On December 12, Carlsbad detectives assisted the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office in locating the vehicle, which was also linked to a burglary in San Marcos. After spotting the car, a brief pursuit ensued, but was called off for safety reasons. Later, the vehicle was found to have crashed and been abandoned. With the assistance of a K-9 unit, two suspects were apprehended and taken into custody.

Further investigation led detectives to a residence in Los Angeles, where they uncovered multiple designer handbags, including classic Louis Vuitton pieces valued at thousands of dollars on the secondary market. They also recovered cash, jewelry, passports, smartphones, foreign currency, and a stolen handgun tied to a prior residential burglary in Los Angeles County. In a Facebook update, detectives noted that they are currently collaborating with law enforcement agencies across the state to identify additional victims linked to the recovered items.

Larcenous landscapers

In September, Nadine D., a resident of Pacific Highlands Ranch just east of Del Mar, faced a similar ordeal, when landscapers allegedly stole her $1750 Dior purse and its contents — cash, a diamond ring, and makeup from her house. “My mom bought me the bag when she was on vacation in Europe,” she said in a recent interview. “It was sentimental to me and the only bag I had. I don’t have the heart to tell her what happened.”

Instead, Nadine took to the NextDoor app and posted about her purse-snatching situation to her neighbors — hoping she could get more intel on the landscapers. “Horrible, they used to work for Standard Tel, a telephone company that went out of business,” Timothy S replied to her.

Asked how she tied the landscapers to her missing baby-blue Dior Cannage purse, Nadine said the landscapers had pulled out a blank check from her purse and “wrote fraudulent checks addressed to Victor Chavez to cash at David’s Friendly Market Liquor & Check Cashing. The memo line said ‘landscape work,’ and the back of the check showed it was cashed at David’s Friendly Market.” Nadine added that she called the police for an update a week before our interview and “was told my case was closed. I reopened it and was told someone would call me the same day, and no one called.”

As this article goes to print, on eBay, the same model Dior purse in the same color is selling used for $1350 in Japan, and another one from the United Emirates is priced at $1121.

San Marcos sneakthief

Back in August, Katie Rhew, a Temecula resident, was arrested after authorities discovered stolen items, including designer handbags, during a search of her home and vehicle. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported that detectives from the San Marcos area executed a search warrant at a Temecula property as part of the then-ongoing investigation into a residential burglary. Rhew was identified as the primary suspect. During the search, detectives recovered several items reported stolen from a home in San Marcos, including unnamed designer handbags valued at over $5000.

Social media, social decay

The theft of luxury items is driven by the internet, massive primary market, and booming secondhand market. (The used luxury market was projected to grow from $2.47 billion in 2023 to $2.66 billion in 2024, according to Statista.) Online platforms like eBay, Poshmark, Etsy, and The RealReal make it easier than ever to buy and resell designer purses and wallets, as they have certified authenticators who monitor and guarantee the genuineness of the used designer items on their apps and sites. The badge, stitching, zipper, hardware, leather texture, and print are all examined, and that assurance of authenticity drives sales for status-hungry consumers.

Another reason why designer wallets and purses are hotter nowadays is because Generation Y and Z folks are exposed to the luxury items in their peers' social media posts. posted by their peers. As a Gen Xer, I was content to marvel at that stuff on the silver screen, in episodes of Miami Vice or in GQ. I never dreamed that my peers might be so grandly outfitted.

No respect for Asian elders

On June 15, a trio of people who had been targeting the purses of senior citizens in Mira Mesa and National City were caught. According to mainstream news reports, prosecutors identified Kenya Frazier (29), Shan T. Davis (32), and Anthony Foster (67) as suspects in custody for allegedly targeting elderly women of Asian descent aged 64 to 89 in a string of robberies across San Diego.

Authorities said the trio primarily targeted victims as they left grocery stores and loaded their groceries into their cars. While the victims were preoccupied, the suspects reportedly seized the opportunity to snatch purses — often left in plain view on passenger seats of unlocked vehicles. A getaway car was said to be waiting nearby during each theft. The defendants face multiple charges, including burglary, robbery, theft from an elderly person, and possession of stolen property. If convicted, they could face prison sentences of up to 17 years.

In January 2024, a local Redditor who goes by the tarzhaybae handle posted about her stolen designer purses, which fetch over $1000 a piece — used.

Leony Bagalawis, a cashier at the Seafood City supermarket, described the alarming nature of the thefts in an interview with ABC 10 News: “Sometimes they walk up, and all of a sudden grab a necklace, grab the bag, and then all of a sudden go inside the car.” In a recent interview with Gale Bryan, who teaches the local senior citizen community how to defend themselves against criminals, she advised carrying a purse with the shoulder strap across the body, resting it in front, with a hand over it. If the purse has short handles, she said to try to put it over the shoulder and hold it tightly under the arm. “Make sure all buttons and zippers are closed,” she said. “Carrying your purse this way also keeps your hands free to defend yourself if necessary.”

Bryan, a retired employee of the Riverside County Office and now a women’s self-defense instructor, teaches women of all ages how to protect themselves against pickpocketers and purse-snatchers. “Don’t leave your purse in a shopping cart, even if you bury it under your purchases,” she advised. “A thief could walk away with the entire cart and not look the least bit suspicious. Also, don’t leave your purse in the passenger seat while pumping gas. A thief can open the car door and take your belongings while you are looking the other way.”

The smash and grab trio

On March 19, three men were charged with orchestrating an organized retail theft operation that netted more than $300,000 in designer goods, including expensive handbags, reported Patch.com. Over two years, the trio committed thefts, many smash-and-grabs, throughout California, and often in San Diego County. According to court documents, Isaiah Abdullah, Nickolas Mallory, and Ishmael Baptist are accused of acting together to steal $309,752 worth of merchandise with the intent to “sell, exchange, or return the merchandise for value.” In San Diego County alone, their thefts totaled over $182,000.

The spree in our backyard began in February 2023, when $15,900 worth of Prada merchandise was stolen, followed by a $20,282 theft from Burberry in March. In July, $30,277 worth of goods was taken from Bottega Veneta, with another $16,950 stolen from Louis Vuitton in August. In September, the suspects struck Louis Vuitton again, stealing $33,140 worth of goods, and in October, $22,340 worth was stolen from Prada. November saw two additional incidents: $5095 taken from Coach and $4500 from Burberry. In December, with $23,080 stolen from Louis Vuitton, and in January 2024, $11,295 worth of Versace merchandise was reported stolen.

Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that the operation involved storming into stores, grabbing high-ticket items, including purses and bags and simply running out. (Other retail thefts are more elaborate. In 2021, thieves used fireworks as a diversion during a robbery at the Coach store in Carlsbad, stealing purses and accessories, according to Fox 5 News.)

California Girls

Michelle Mack, a Bonsall resident accused of leading an organized crime ring responsible for stealing nearly $8 million in makeup and luxury goods, has been sentenced to more than five years in state prison and fined over $3 million. According to mainstream news outlets, the sentence was handed down by a San Diego County Superior Court judge on July 18, 2024. Mack, 53, pleaded guilty in February to running a theft ring known as the “California Girls,” which operated across more than a dozen states. The group targeted retailers such as Sephora, Ulta, Bloomingdale’s, T.J. Maxx, and other cosmetic and luxury stores. Prosecutors stated that Mack resold the stolen merchandise at discounted prices through an Amazon storefront.

Authorities also revealed that Mack and her husband, Kenneth Mack, ran the operation from their $2.75 million, 4,500-square-foot mansion in Bonsall, located north of Vista and Escondido. Video evidence showed a stockpile of stolen items in their garage, including what appeared to be a Louis Vuitton purse among the cosmetics.

Redditor robbed

In January 2024, a local Redditor who goes by the handle tarzhaybae posted about her stolen designer purses, which fetch over $1000 a piece — used. “Hi Reddit,” she wrote, “my house was burglarized tonight, and many of my bags were stolen. If anyone sees any of these bags pop up for sale, please, please alert me. I’m located in San Diego.” She posted a photo of her Chanel black Mini Flap style with a gold and silver lion head charm. “I’m fairly certain this style is pretty rare? It should be easy to find, and flag.”

On eBay, I couldn’t find a Chanel Mini Flap purse with the same lion charm, although I found Mini Flaps without the charm which cost $4000 to $6800. However, I did find a match on Carousell, a site in Singapore similar to our eBay. The the purse was listed at $9999 Singapore dollars, — about $7300 US dollars. Also stolen from her house was a Louis Vuitton Alma BB Vernis in the rose-angelique colorway. (She even had the original 2013 receipt still in the bag.) On eBay, only one was listed in the same color; it sold for $1183 in Japan. She also posted about a Louis Vuitton Damier Ebene purse: “The lock on the bag is noticeably shinier and newer looking than the rest of the hardware,” she said, “because I’d kept it stored for so long.” Also stolen was a black colored Celine Nano luggage unit and a beige YSL Loulou — those have sold on eBay for between $1500 and $3000.

Alcala and awareness

Westfield Plaza Bonita mall has seen its share of thieves over the years. In December of 2023, I met with one J. Alcala and he pointed out vulnerabilities holiday shoppers often overlook at the bustling two-story mall. Alcala has over two decades of experience in substance use and crime prevention, and is trained in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. He’s a subject matter expert in urban crime, and a veteran bodyguard for the sort of people who carry these sorts of handbags. “High-traffic areas near entrances and exits of the malls are prime spots for purse snatchers,” Alcala explained. “They can quickly grab a bag and escape before anyone can react.”

On December 5, someone broke into Andrea Nicole’s Kia in front of her home and stole her black-colored Louis Vuitton wallet. She later posted a video on NextDoor, showing a suspected couple shopping at Whole Foods with Nicole's credit card.

We walked past groups of shoppers, pausing to observe their behavior. Alcala noted how distractions like checking a phone or carrying multiple shopping bags could make someone an easy target. “Pickpockets and purse-snatchers thrive on distraction,” he said. “They look for people who are too busy or unaware of their surroundings.” We noticed a woman with a Dooney & Bourke purse sitting at a table with her back towards us and the purse next to her on the chair to the right. Someone at a distance on her left yelled at his friend and she looked in that direction — all the time a thief would need, said Alcala.

“So, what’s a safer way to sit at a table and protect your bag?” I asked.

“Put the bag on the opposite side of where people are passing by. Keep it further away from the foot traffic.”

“What about putting it on the floor with the handle through one of the chair legs?”

Alcala responded, “Some women won’t put it on the floor because of certain customs and superstitions.” A Chinese proverb translates roughly, “A purse on the floor is money out the door.”

As we walked past a sneaker store, an alarm started blaring at a distance. A security guard walked right past us. “You see how he’s on his phone, and look at the alarms going off,” Alcala said, “And he’s still on his phone? All these stores should tell the mall to pay security more. The security guard probably doesn’t have the experience, because they are unwilling to pay.”

We walked by the large Christmas tree, and he pointed to a woman wearing a gray dress with a medium-sized Michael Kors bag. “People worrying about their aesthetics make them easy targets,” he added. “We were all younger once. Do you remember when we were younger? This was where you showed off your outfit. And sadly, the thieves know that. For her, one guy can distract her by talking her up, and another guy, the accomplice, is just eyeing to get the bag.”

We found our way by the food court on the second floor, and we noticed a woman with a stroller and a handbag hanging on one of the push handles. “That purse literally is just right there,” he noted. “That guy can just grab that and run, and on the opposite side, there’s all kinds of barriers, and he could be gone.”

Alcala emphasized that prevention is possible. “Proactive measures like visible security patrols and shopper education programs can significantly reduce incidents. Shoppers need to remember that safety starts with awareness,” he concluded.

Tips from the Purse Collectors

There’s a Reddit thread called, “Have you ever been robbed for your designer handbag?” Women from all over the country post that their purses have been snatched from them in broad daylight; some were beaten for their purses. One even mentioned an influencer being robbed of her designer purses after the thieves found out where she lived.

Some of the collectors suggested insuring purses and keeping the receipts. Others noted that home insurance policies won’t cover the loss if the purse was stolen outside the home. Another added, “I know someone who uses Chubb to insure her bags. She told me it covers break-ins and also if you’re mugged. She has like five Hermes Kellys and three Birkins” Depending on the material and colorway, some of those can cost over $100,000 apiece, even used.