Philadelphia looting night 2: More burglary arrests despite store closures, increased police patrols
PHILADELPHIA - Another night of unrest for residents, store owners and law enforcement as groups of looters gathered yet again to destroy and ransack more Philadelphia stores for the second night in a row.
The second round of looting began after midnight, mostly targeting retail stores in Philadelphia's Northeast, Northwest and Eastern sections. Police confirm at least eight additional burglaries overnight.
Wine & Spirits on Adams Avenue became the first reported victim around 1:30 a.m. as several liquor stores closed indefinitely after being completely plundered Tuesday and Wednesday.
Less than an hour later, surveillance footage from Nat's Beauty Supply on Frankford Avenue shows several looters breaking into the beauty supply store, and fleeing with handfuls of stolen items.
Claudia Silmeas, the owner of Nat’s Beauty Supply, sadly said, "I have no words. I’m lost for words."
She opened the shop about five months ago and said the looting has devastated her business. "Sad. Heartbroken. Emotional, because I worked hard for this."
Just moments later, there were reports of looters taking over a Snipes Warehouse, which is a supply warehouse for Snipes sneaker stores around the area.
An attempted looting reportedly occurred at another sneaker store on Torresdale Avenue around 2:15 a.m. However, nothing ended up being stolen.
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Philadelphia looting: Dozens arrested, including juveniles, after stores ransacked across the city
Philadelphia police say at least 52 people were arrested after multiple businesses were looted and ransacked across the city Tuesday night. Police referred to some of the incidents as a 'coordinated attack.'
Over in West Philadelphia, more heartbreak and frustration as looters hit a local pizza shop. Owner and operator of Clarkville, Brendan Hartranft, stated, "This wasn’t even on my radar of something I should think or worry about."
Hartranft says his wife alerted him to the looting in the city that took place Tuesday night. When he arrived at his shop, he was met with broken windows, shattered glass and spray paint all over, including writing which reads ‘Avenge Eddie,’ presumably for Eddie Irizarry, the 27-year-old shot and killed by a now former Philadelphia police officer. The charges against the ex-cop were dropped during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, causing lots of frustration across the city.
"A decision was made in the courts and a lot of people felt it was a wrong decision. Myself included. But, this doesn’t change anything," Hartranft added.
Back in Tacony, years of work and preparation destroyed within seconds.
"Thousands of dollars because hair is expensive, products are expensive and they took most of my expensive stuff," Silmeas said.
Silmeas went on to say she immigrated to the U.S. 16 years ago from Haiti and opening a beauty supply shop has always been her goal.
"So, this shop was a dream come true for you," asked FOX 29’s Shaynah Ferreira.
"It was. It was," Silmeas answered.
These burglaries come after several sections of Philadelphia were terrorized by crowds of at least 100 people during an hours long crime spree Tuesday night, according to police.
Retail stores impacted include Footlocker, Lululemon, Rite Care Pharmacy, Fine Wine & Good Spirits, GameStop, Nice Pharmacy, Philadelphia Pharmacy, QRX3 Pharmacy, T-Mobile, AutoZone, Walgreens, Cash For Gold, Family Dollar, Aldi, and Rite Aid.
Several stores closed their doors Wednesday in hopes of eluding the looters, while police increased their presence across sections of Philadelphia to keep communities, and stores safe.
The city appeared to go quiet for a few hours Wednesday afternoon before chaos erupted once again.
Police say more arrests were made Wednesday night into Thursday morning, after 52 people taken into custody for the first night of looting.
- Fransisco Santini, 35
- David Davis, 39
- Stephen Euvetta-Bey, 23
- Melvin Galves, 45
- Hector DeJesus Berrios, 26
- Aaron Ballard, 23
- Kayela Pearsall, 32
- Matthew Ward, 32
- Angel Bonilla, 22
- Lamont Bryant, 24
- Tysha Brown-Jordan, 27
- Nydera Hanton, 26
- Angela Mines, 30
- Sadiyyah Mines, 32
- Nykeisha Rodriguez, 28
- Yashier Hill, 26
- Ariel Brown, 33
- Gihaad Allah-Ford, 26
- Leah Fountaine, 21
- Janiyah Moses, 20
- Shakur Bailey, 26
- Cristoff Mason, 29
- Qadir Watson, 28
- Markee Moultrie, 33
The age and identities of these additional arrests have not yet been released.