'Just An Absolute Mess': Residents, Business Owners Heartbroken After Looters Spend Night Ransacking Center City Businesses
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City streets are covered with contents of ransacked stores Sunday morning as a result of hours of looting by angry protesters.
Around 6 a.m. CBS3 cameras caught around six men jumping in and out of a Modell's Sporting Goods store with arms full of merchandise. Since then, cleanup has begun.
"I was here when I was a kid for the first riot in the '60s. But it was never like this. It was really, really bad. They won't come back from this," Gary Evans said.
Evans pulled up to 17th and Walnut Streets on his bike and broke down when he saw it.
Daylight shows the totality of the damage done.
Shards of glass, empty shoe boxes, charred items and curbside shoppers of stolen goods -- all serving as the backdrop to a peaceful protest that became a violent riot.
The windows of Adolf Biecker Spa and Salon were smashed to pieces and shelves were ransacked during Saturday night's violent protests.
Salon manager Arnold Zlatkin says he was heartbroken when he arrived to see the damage around 6:15 a.m.
"It was just an absolute mess," Zlatkin said. "I was shocked. It broke my heart to see how hard we work. We've been in business in the City of Philadelphia for over 85 years. We're a mainstay in the city. It's just heart-wrenching to see what has happened."
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The salon has other locations across the city, including three schools.
Zlatkin is spending the day figuring out what's been taken from his salon.
"They hit us in the front here and cleaned us out," he said. "Everything trashed in the front, people outside putting things in their car. It's just a sad day."
But through the anguish also comes an effort one broom, one trash can, one pair of hands at a time.
"It's been nice to see so many people to come out and help. We had the manager of one of these buildings start to bring out these dumpsters," Emily Simpson said. "And I'll be here until I run out of dumpsters or trash bags or whatever comes first."
Looters began to ransack businesses in Center City Saturday evening, drowning the powerful message that was made during the peaceful protests earlier in the day.
Chopper 3 was over the scene where smoke could be seen billowing from a store on the 1700 block of Walnut Street, just steps away from Philadelphia's historic Rittenhouse Square.
Sources tell Eyewitness News the fire spread to a handful of businesses and crews had all hands on deck as they worked to extinguish the fire. Among the buildings on fire was a bank.
The fire rose to three alarms with more than 100 firefighters battling the blaze.
It remains unclear how the fire started or if anyone was injured.
Massive looting also took place just blocks away along Walnut and Chestnut Streets in Center City, including at Nordstrom Rack, Boyds and Sephora.
Earlier in the evening, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at least four police vehicles were set on fire, including a Pennsylvania State Police cruiser.
Mayor Jim Kenney implemented a mandatory curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday.
The curfew will go back into effect Sunday from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Monday.
"During that time, people may leave their homes only to go to work at essential businesses or to seek medical attention or police assistance," Kenney said.
CBS3's Dan Koob contributed to this report.
