How to Use smash-and-grab in a Sentence
smash-and-grab
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Most smash-and-grab thieves aren’t going to take the time to try and cut it loose.
—Travis Smola, Field & Stream, 13 Mar. 2023
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Todd Spitzer has scheduled to discuss smash-and-grab crimes.
—Gabriel San Román, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
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This isn’t the first smash-and-grab theft to strike a Gucci store in California this summer.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 3 Aug. 2023
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Yet residents and businesses are on edge with smash-and-grab thefts.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
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The first smash-and-grab robbery occurred Dec. 24 at the jewelry store, according to the news release.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 10 May 2024
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However street crimes, such as smash-and-grab raids on stores, home robberies and carjackings, have spiked.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 13 June 2024
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Commercial robbery, which includes thefts in which force is used or threatened (like some smash-and-grab thefts), was up about 13% in that same time frame.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2023
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The video and information about the June 15 smash-and-grab theft was released on the department’s Facebook page Wednesday.
—Harry Harris, The Mercury News, 26 July 2024
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Eleven people have been arrested so far in connection with a series of smash-and-grab thefts from gun stores in the Greater Cincinnati area.
—Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 17 Sep. 2024
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The actual robbers are realizing that what seemed like a low-stakes smash-and-grab has put a bounty on their heads as well.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2024
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His opponents have blamed him for a rise in property crimes in some parts of the county, including a brazen smash-and-grab spree at luxury stores.
—Nicholas Riccardi, The Denver Post, 29 Feb. 2024
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Overall crime rates in Los Angeles are down from last year, and a recent surge in smash-and-grab robberies makes up little of the overall problem of retail thefts.
—Richard Winton and Nathan Solis Los Angeles Times (tns), Arkansas Online, 17 Aug. 2023
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In November, Olde Town shops experienced a rash of smash-and-grab burglaries.
—Claire Lavezzorio, The Denver Post, 2 Jan. 2025
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Loading your audio article Police are looking for three suspects in a smash-and-grab burglary at a smoke shop in Wallingford on Friday.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2024
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Meanwhile, new state laws took effect on Jan. 1 on everything from restrictions on what eggs can be sold to penalties for those convicted in large-scale, smash-and-grab robberies.
—John Riley, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2025
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This ain’t a smash-and-grab type job ... we’re told some of the crews boosting LEGOs are now using counter-surveillance technology, plus getaway drivers and lookouts.
—Lawrence Hodge / Jalopnik, Quartz, 10 July 2024
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The final defendant involved in a smash-and-grab jewelry store robbery in Tustin has been sentenced to 29 years in prison, according to court records obtained Tuesday.
—City News Service, Orange County Register, 29 Jan. 2025
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In all three races, critics who cited smash-and-grab robberies, open drug dealing at homeless encampments and other unlawful trends, said the leaders were too soft on crime.
—Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
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But the issue has received more notice in the past few years as high-profile smash-and-grab retail thefts and flash mob robberies have garnered national media attention.
—Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2023
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As retail stores face smash-and-grab invasions, Amazon’s online shopping is assailed by the government.
—WSJ, 29 Sep. 2023
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Peña served nearly seven years in prison on charges related to a smash-and-grab scheme that included burglary, larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 1 June 2023
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Nine people have pleaded guilty to charges in connection to smash-and-grab robberies worth over $1.7 million throughout Southern California.
—Taylor Ardrey, USA TODAY, 31 July 2024
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In June of this year, the Chanel boutique on Avenue Montaigne was targeted by a smash-and-grab robbery that involved four suspects ramming their vehicle into the store in order to break the windows and steal merchandise.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 8 Oct. 2024
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The suffering is all around us — from open-air drug markets populated by addicts to an epidemic of smash-and-grab robberies that are closing small businesses and driving up costs for those who can stay open.
—Matt Mahan, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
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While homicides in Los Angeles were down last year, according to police, fears about crime persist as videos of smash-and-grab burglaries routinely go viral and more stores lock up their deodorant and toothpaste shelves.
—Emma Tucker, CNN, 1 Dec. 2024
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While shoplifting has been a growing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have become a crisis in California and elsewhere in recent years.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2024
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California will spend $267 million to help dozens of local law enforcement agencies crack down on smash-and-grab robberies, The Associated Press reports.
—Soumya Karlamangla, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
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Videos of brazen smash-and-grab looting operations, sometimes involving hundreds of masked individuals, appear in the news almost weekly, adding to the sense of lawlessness.
—The Week Staff, The Week, 2 Sep. 2023
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Police are investigating a smash-and-grab burglary at a jewelry store in Westport on Thursday afternoon.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2024
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According to the Chicago Police Department, the smash-and-grab thief broke into the popular makeup store at approximately 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 15 Nov. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smash-and-grab.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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