The police -- if they are so inclined -- can likely obtain the video footage from hotel security. But unless the police have facial-recognition software -- or the video shows the license plate of a "getaway" car -- it's probably not too likely that viewing the video would help identify the culprit(s). If this were a homicide, surveillance-video images would almost certainly be shown on local TV and printed in the newspapers; for a (relatively) common crime like a vehicle burglary, not so much.

If your friends paid for their purchases with a credit card, they should check with the card issuer to see if the card provides theft protection for recent purchases. Many U.S.-issued cards provide such coverage; not sure how common the coverage is with foreign-issued cards.