Thieves Use Truck as Battering Ram, Raid Los Angeles Smoke Shop

A group of thieves used a pickup truck as a battering ram Aug. 22, smashing their way into a Chatsworth smoke shop and ransacking the store. The brazen crime occurred around 1:30 a.m. in 21700 block of Devonshire Street, where the suspects backed a stolen white truck into the front of the store, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Drake Madison told City News Service. Surveillance video showed the truck smashing a metal security gate, after which several men wearing hoodies raided the store and grabbed merchandise before making a quick getaway in a white SUV parked outside the store, leaving the truck behind....