Philadelphia police arrested 52 thieves after they stole from a lottery machine and a safe. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Murder charges were dropped
Police arrested at least 52 people after a second night of looting in Philadelphia, where thieves raided a lottery machine, robbed a safe and ransacked a liquor store.
The judge dismissed all charges against Officer Mark Dial, including murder
The looting began Tuesday night after a judge dropped all charges, including murder, against Officer Mark Dial who fatally shot 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in August.
Officer Dial was charged with murder, manslaughter and five other charges stemming from the shooting. Police initially said Irizarry “lunged at officers” while outside his car; However, video footage showed that this was not true.
According to Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford, the people associated with the looting were not part of the peaceful protest. He described the thieves as “a group of criminal opportunists.”
Close stores selling alcoholic beverages
As a result of the looting, 18 state-run liquor stores were broken into this week. For the safety of employees, the Philadelphia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board made the decision to close all 48 retail locations in Philadelphia and one in suburban Cheltenham on Wednesday.
Some were understandably shaken by the events
While no employees were injured, liquor board spokesman Sean Kelly said “some were understandably shaken” by the events.
Fine wines and fine spirits were targeted by thieves as the store was trashed. Broken bottles, empty boxes and ransacked shelves can be seen in video footage following the looting.
In addition to the 52 arrests last night, at least 30 other people have been charged with burglary, theft and other charges in connection with the looting.
Illegal behavior will not be tolerated
In what appears to be coordinated attacks, other places the criminals hit included Apple, Footlocker, and Lululemon.
In the devastation, fashion models and sneakers were left scattered. At the Apple Store, when the thieves realized the products were broken, they smashed them on the floor.
Police are investigating a number of vehicles that appear to have been moving from one location to another for the purpose of looting. Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, said what happened was a “disgusting display of opportunistic criminal activity,” and that “this destructive and illegal behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in our city.”
For one pharmacist, it was the third time his store had been looted since 2020. “When thieves steal from us, what they don’t seem to understand is that they are also stealing from our neighbors,” he said. It makes you wonder how long you can last.”
