CHATSWORTH, CA — A group of thieves broke into a Chatsworth store overnight using a stolen pickup truck and looted the store. It was the second day in a row that thieves in the San Fernando Valley used such brazen tactics.

Thursday’s break-in occurred at 1:30 a.m. in the 21700 block of Devonshire Street, Los Angeles Police Department Officer David Cuellar told Patch.

“Approximately seven suspects drove into the building in a stolen white pickup truck,” Cuellar said. “They fled in another unknown vehicle and left the van at the scene.”

The target was a tobacco shop. The thieves broke through a metal security gate, looted the shop and stole an unknown amount of goods. They were seen on surveillance cameras wearing hoodies.

The owner of the Smoke City store told reporters it was the second time in less than a month that one of his tobacco shops had been robbed. Along with shoe stores, tobacco shops have become a frequent target of organized gangs of thieves. Earlier this month, the owner of a tobacco shop shot at a group of thieves in Los Angeles County.

Another tobacco shop in North Hollywood was also robbed Wednesday. Thieves used the exact same tactic to break into a store on Burbank Boulevard, Cuellar said.

The burglary occurred at approximately 3:25 a.m. in the 10700 block of Burbank Boulevard, where the suspects drove a white SUV into a store, ransacked the store and fled in a waiting vehicle.

Investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection between the two brazen break-ins, Cuellar said.