They're often called flash mob robberies where criminals use strength in numbers to get in and out in a matter of seconds with loads of loot.
Early Wednesday morning, the upscale Hermes of Paris store on Post Oak was targeted by nearly a dozen people. Now we're getting a look at the surveillance video.
Crews are working to repair the door the thieves broke down, which was imported from France. Now police and the management company here hope the surveillance video helps catch the mob of crooks.
Repairmen worked on the gateway to the upper-crust retail giant, and inside employees scrambled to tidy up the mess left behind by a mob of thieves.
"I really think it's horrible that this happened here," said shopper Sarah Brandon.
Overnight Wednesday, a group of burglars ransacked Hermes in Uptown, getting away with high fashion handbags, scarves and other merchandise; presumably worth hundreds and thousands of dollars.
"That's just crazy to me. I think it's insane," Brandon said.
What's more insane is the surveillance video. You see the first car pull into a parking space. Then within a minute, a white SUV pulls in front of the store. One by one they jump out, breaking through the door with pick-axes and crow bars.
"We counted about 10 (suspects)," said a representative with the store's management company.
With faces covered and license plates concealed, the thieves spent less than three minutes shopping, then poured out of the store, carrying whatever they could grab.
"I think they're pretty brave to do something like that, considering there is good security around here," said Brandon.
The management company tells us security is stationed here 24/7 and a guard rolls into the picture within seconds. But it's too late. The crooks are long gone.
"We would love for them to be caught," said the representative with the store's management company.
A Houston police officer told me the store plans to reopen on Saturday.
If you have any information about this case, you are urged to call police.
Authorities looking into a similar incident at the Louis Vuitton store inside the Galleria to see if they're linked.
