An APB is going out about a gang of seven young women who stormed a boutique on Maiden Lane last Friday and brazenly began shoving big-ticket items into empty shopping bags. This all happened at 2:15 p.m., and an employee attempted to trap the young women by locking the front door and calling the police.

This effort failed, however, as the Examiner reports, and all seven managed to escape, but most of the merchandise was recovered before they fled  they did, however, manage to steal a cell phone cover and an employee's wallet.

Apparently this type of "organized retail crime" is on the rise, and Union Square is a hotbed for it. The Tenderloin and Southern police stations have teamed up to try to fight it, especially as the holiday season approaches.

[Examiner]