Looting rocks Philly for a SECOND night: Brazen thieves rip out safe and lottery machine of closed liquor store in latest flash mob crime to hit City of Brotherly Love

Looting rocked Philadelphia for the second night in a row as brazen thieves looted a liquor store.

Shocking images from the City of Brotherly Love showed Fine Wine and Good Spirits being shattered in the latest flash robbery crime.

The animals made off with the safe and raided the lottery machine on a night when liquor stores were closed by authorities.

Fox29’s Steve Keeley, who initially reported Wednesday night’s thefts, later posted videos shows the aftermath of a looting at a sneaker warehouse in the city.

The video Keely posted on X showed piles of boxes that had been torn. A source told Keely, “It could be a Snipes warehouse. It looks like they took everything and left a lot behind.”

It comes a day after young thieves clashed with police in the streets following mass looting at Footlocker, Lululemon and Apple.

Among those arrested was social media personality Dayjia “Meatball” Blackwell, 21. The suspect cried after she was charged with burglary, conspiracy, criminal trespass, riot, criminal mischief, criminal use of communications facilities, receiving stolen property and disorderly conduct .

Police said they had made at least 52 arrests. So far, burglary, theft and other charges have been filed against at least 30 people, all but three of whom are adults, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

The flash mob-style looting Tuesday night of dozens of stores came after a peaceful protest against a judge’s decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window.

Those who carried out the looting were not involved in the protest, interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a news conference, calling the group “a bunch of criminal opportunists.”

At least 18 state liquor stores were broken into, prompting the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close all 48 retail locations in Philadelphia and one in the suburb of Cheltenham on Wednesday.

No employees were injured Tuesday evening, but “some were understandably shaken,” said Shawn Kelly, spokesman for the liquor association.

The stores were ‘closed in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage suffered. We will reopen stores when it is safe to do so and when the damage has been repaired,” Kelly said.

Video on social media showed masked people in hoodies running out of Lululemon with merchandise as police officers grabbed some and threw them on the sidewalk.

Photos from a sporting goods store in a shopping center showed mannequins and sneakers scattered across the sidewalk.

The thefts and unrest stretched from downtown to northeast and west Philadelphia, leaving shattered storefronts and broken storefronts. Police said seven cars were stolen from a northeast lot.

One of the cars was recovered Wednesday afternoon.

Six businesses in one North Philadelphia retail corridor were looted, including three pharmacies, a hair salon, a tax preparation company and a cell phone store, according to the North 22nd Street Business Corridor, a business group.

Benjamin Nochum, the pharmacist and store manager at Patriot Pharmacy, said it was the third time since 2020 that his business had been affected.

“When looters steal from us, they don’t seem to understand that they are also stealing from our neighbors,” Nochum said in a statement. “You wonder how much longer you can hold on.”

Stanford, the interim police chief, said people appeared to have organized their efforts on social media.

Police are investigating “that there may have been a caravan of a number of different vehicles moving from location to location.” A video posted to social media showed people hanging out of cars in a shopping center parking lot and appearing to shout at each other.

“This destructive and illegal behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in our city,” said Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, calling it a “sickening display of opportunistic criminal activity.”

His administration is working with police to assess “which areas of the city may need more coverage or additional resources,” he said.

The chaos in Philadelphia was reminiscent of similar brazen thefts elsewhere, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where organized groups of thieves, some with crowbars and hammers, have systematically targeted higher-end stores.

There were a large number of young people in Philadelphia’s business district called Center City shortly before 8 p.m., and some officers stopped a group of men “dressed in black attire and wearing masks,” according to a police news release.

At that time, reports and 911 calls came in about the Foot Locker store. When police arrived, they discovered it had been “looted in a coordinated attack,” the news release said.

At 8:12 p.m., police responded to similar calls at Lululemon, where police wrestled a pair of suspects to the ground as people streamed out of the store. Some of the suspected thieves slipped past police and escaped, according to a video posted on social media.

Shortly afterwards, police were directed to the Apple Store, where the thieves had broken in and made off with phones and tablets. They then knocked them to the ground when they realized the devices had been turned off and their alarms were going off, a video on social media showed. .

According to a police press release, some of the goods have been recovered.

No injuries were immediately reported, but CBS Philadelphia reports this that a security guard was attacked at the Foot Locker.

The thefts occurred on the same day that Target announced it would close nine stores in four states, including one in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood and three in the San Francisco Bay Area. Target said theft and organized retail crime have jeopardized the safety of its employees. and customers.