By Jerald Jimenez
27 Sep 2023, 09:31 AM EDT
Merchants in downtown Philadelphia experienced a true ordeal on Tuesday night when they saw how their stores were attacked by groups of teenagers who came en masse to cause chaos.
Philadelphia police officers received several reports of looting in the District 9 commercial corridor around 8:00 p.m. Upon arriving at the scene, officers detained a group of men dressed in black and wearing masks at the intersection of the streets. 17th and Chestnut, Fox News reported.
While questioning these individuals, officers were alerted to more looting at nearby stores such as Foot Locker, Lululemon, and the Apple Store. Officers arrived at the establishments and found that there had been a “coordinated attack” by looters.
Several people ended up arrested, including some minors. At least two firearms and several stolen items, including phones and tablets, were recovered. But the effort was not enough to arrest all the teenagers, as some escaped with the items.
Videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed scenes of vandalism left behind by looters in stores. In one of them you could see an Apple Store with iPhones and iPads lying on the floor.
Journalist Steve Keeley informed the aforementioned media that many of the Apple products were left at the site because they had anti-theft technology that made them useless.
A police officer told local station WCAU-TV that more than 100 minors had stolen items from a Lulemon store.
Similarly, the police attended other cases of property damage and theft in different parts of the city. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 people were arrested after the looting. No injuries were reported during the incidents.
“The Philadelphia Police Department is committed to maintaining public safety and order,” Philadelphia police said in the statement. “We are actively investigating these incidents and working diligently to identify and apprehend those responsible for these illegal acts. “We appreciate the cooperation of our community and urge anyone with information related to these incidents to come forward and assist with the ongoing investigations.”