Two bungling burglars were caught red-handed by heavily armed cops as they tried to sneak into a high-end store and make off with $100,000 worth of luxury handbags — and it was all caught on camera.
The would-be bag thieves’ antics were posted to Instagram in dramatic new footage from California’s Irvine Police Department as they tried to escape the posh shop with several bags in hand, but cops and a canine unit were waiting for them.
The hoodie-clad criminals were spotted early Monday morning brazenly climbing up the side of a building. Once inside the unnamed store, surveillance footage shows the thieves grabbing every luxury bag in sight.
But a security guard had already alerted cops, who jumped into action, Irvine PD said.
Heavily armed officers with what appear to be assault rifles searched the building as a drone flew overhead looking for the criminals. At one point, the pair open an exit door, then immediately slam it shut and sprint up a set of nearby stairs, footage shows.
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Once police catch up to the criminals, seven armed cops and a K-9 unit order the pair to hit the ground. The failed thieves were then cuffed and taken away under tight supervision in a police cruiser, body cam video shows.
All $100,000 worth of handbags were recovered and returned to the store, cops said.
The failed burglars were identified as Richard Bernard Spencer, 40, of Los Angeles, and Marcellus Ronell Shelby, 30, of Hollywood, cops said.
The pair was arrested and charged on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, conspiracy, vandalism, and resisting arrest.
