Video: Flash mob theft reported at 7-Eleven in Silver Spring

<p>Montgomery County police are investigating a flash mob theft involving about 50 young people at a Silver Spring convenience store.</p> <p>Police said the incident happened at about 11:20 p.m. Saturday at the 7-Eleven located at <a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?q=12257+Tech+Road,+Silver+Spring,+Md&amp;hl=en&amp;ll=39.055451,-76.966438&amp;spn=0.017396,0.037551&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=36.315864,76.904297&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;hnear=12257+Tech+Rd,+Silver+Spring,+Maryland+20904&amp;t=m&amp;z=15″>12257 Tech Road</a>. A group of about 50 teenagers and young adults simultaneously ransacked the store, taking snacks and drinks.</p> <p><a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpAz7X6HRTg&amp;feature=youtu.be”>Video posted online</a> by the police department shows a throng of teens entering the store and grabbing all sorts of items in less than a minute.</p> <p>Officers who responded to the flash mob saw groups in nearby parking lots and side streets, but the suspects fled as officers approached.</p> <p>Police said a group of six people, ages 16 to 18, were stopped and questioned near Tech Road and Broadbirch Drive. All of them had items from the 7-Eleven and could not provide receipts.</p> <div style=”float: right; width: 210px;”> <iframe width=”200″ height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?q=12257+Tech+Road,+Silver+Spring,+Md&amp;hl=en&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=36.315864,76.904297&amp;vpsrc=0&amp;hnear=12257+Tech+Rd,+Silver+Spring,+Maryland+20904&amp;t=m&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;ll=39.055451,-76.966438&amp;spn=0.01333,0.01708&amp;z=14&amp;iwloc=A&amp;output=embed”/><br/><small><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?q=12257+Tech+Road,+Silver+Spring,+Md&amp;hl=en&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=36.315864,76.904297&amp;vpsrc=0&amp;hnear=12257+Tech+Rd,+Silver+Spring,+Maryland+20904&amp;t=m&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;ll=39.055451,-76.966438&amp;spn=0.01333,0.01708&amp;z=14&amp;iwloc=A&amp;source=embed” style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>View Larger Map</a></small></div> <p>The six were questioned but not arrested.</p> <p>Officers didn’t obtain surveillance video of the thefts until Monday, said Officer Rebecca Innocenti, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman. Innocenti said investigators “wanted to see what had actually happened during the incident” before filing charges.</p> <p>No one had been charged as of Monday evening, Innocenti said.</p> <p>She said she didn’t know the total value of the items stolen.</p> <p>Investigators believe the teens may have been attending a birthday party nearby before the flash mob.</p> <p>The incident is the second time a flash mob theft has rocked a Montgomery County 7-Eleven in recent months. In August, <a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/08/area-police-get-ready-take-flash-mobs”>a similar mass theft</a> took place at a Germantown store. Seventeen teenagers <a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime-punishment/2011/08/suspects-charged-flash-mob-theft-gtown-7-eleven”>have been charged</a> in that incident.</p> <p>Officials around the Washington region have said they are <a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/09/concerns-persist-about-flash-mob-crimes”>increasingly concerned</a> about youth flash mob crimes and Montgomery officials have repeatedly <a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/09/montco-leaders-battle-over-proposed-youth-curfew”>cited</a> the Germantown incident as a reason to support a <a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/maryland/2011/11/montco-council-takes-loitering-vs-curfew”>hotly contested</a> proposed curfew.</p>