Armed robbers have targeted several Southern California Trader Joe's stores. Beverly White reports for the NBC4 News at 11 on Monday, April 23, 2018. (Published Tuesday, April 24, 2018) 
 
 A string of robberies targeting eight Trader Joe’s stores across Southern California has market officials concerned as well as its communities. 
 
 "I've never had any problems," Harvey Stromberg, a Trader Joe’s shopper, said. "I didn’t know they don’t have security cameras. I’ve always felt safe." 
 
 Stores that have been targeted include Long Beach, Irvine, Encino, and Mid-Wilshire. 
 
 An estimated $4,800 has been stolen from the Culver City location on April 12, according to the Los Angeles Times. Many locations reportedly do not have surveillance cameras. 
 
 "We trust our customers and do not conduct surveillance on them," the store said in an online statement. "When necessary, we take appropriate action, including having security cameras and security guards in our stores, to help ensure the safety of our customers and Crew Members." 
 
 The eight robberies that have occurred at the Southern California locations were all targeted by armed men who escaped on foot. 
 
 Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department. 

 In Los Angeles, police are investigating four armed robberies at Trader Joe's in the last month, said Capt. Billy Hayes, head of the agency's Robbery-Homicide Division. In the L.A. cases, Hayes said, a group of three or four people walk into the stores, identify an employee and then "go for the money," he said. The suspects have escaped on foot, he said. Like the robberies in Long Beach and Culver City, Hayes said, the hits in Los Angeles also occurred in the evening.
– A series of armed robberies targeting Trader Joe's locations in Southern California has police suspecting serial assailants. At least seven armed robberies have occurred at Trader Joe's stores in the region in recent months, including four in Los Angeles, per the Los Angeles Times. Stores in Long Beach, Irvine, and Culver City also have been targeted, reports NBC Los Angeles. (It counts eight robberies.) The scene of the crime isn't the only commonality: Police say all robberies occurred in the evening, without injuries, and involved a few armed suspects who escaped on foot. In the most recent case, two men took $4,800 from a Trader Joe's in Culver City on the night of April 12, before fleeing on foot. Both suspects are described as 5-foot-8 and in their 20s—one reportedly had a scar under an eye—but police were unable to get video footage because the Trader Joe's store doesn't have security cameras. "We trust our customers and do not conduct surveillance on them," Trader Joe's says, while a company rep tells the Times that only some stores have security cameras or guards. That's a red flag for retail security consultant Bob Dilonardo. He raises the possibility that robbers might be taking advantage of an "extremely unusual" lack of security. "Criminals don't live in a vacuum. When they discover a situation that's easier, rather than more difficult, they take advantage," he says.