Surveillance video captured the suspects in the act at a MacMall on Hawthorne Boulevard and allowed investigators to identify who they were.
"They would go into the store as a group of four or five. They all had assignments. They were able to block themselves so they're not being seen by store staff, and then they leave the location," said Torrance Police Sgt. Robert Watt.
It didn't seem to matter that the store was crowded. The suspects only needed a few minutes before they were out of the store.
"They target electronic stores, MacMall stores, Apple electronic stores," Watt said.
The suspects were identified as 34-year-old Ausra Bauzinskaite, 30-year-old Adeliya Nassybullina, 37-year-old Lukasz Karasinski and 31-year-old Przemyslaw Skiba. All four suspects are from Poland but live in Chicago.
The suspects are also accused of similar crimes in Colorado, Washington and Florida.
"We're looking to see if they're involved in more because apparently their total loss is over $3 million," Watt said.
Authorities are still unsure why these suspects from Chicago were targeting Southland businesses.
The suspects admitted to stealing in order to help pay off a $2 million debt that they incurred several years ago. They have been charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit commercial burglary and grand theft stemming from several commercial burglaries.
The arrests came after a four-month investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the Torrance Police Department at (310) 328-3456.
