Store Looting Skyrockets in Major Cities As Coronavirus Shutdown Stretches On

Brittany M. Hughes | April 8, 2020
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As more and more restaurants, mom-and-pop stores and even large retailers shut their doors against the coronavirus pandemic, looters are taking full advantage of the now-vacant spaces that still have plenty of valuable equipment and money locked inside.

In San Francisco, local reports detail an alarming spike in breakings, burglaries and looting across restaurants and stores, many of them locally owned and already struggling to keep their employees without a steady revenue stream. Thieves smashed into Jack Holder’s Restaurant and Bar in San Jose, stealing several tablets including the one owner Dan Holder was using for his now vital to-go orders, while looters broke into West Coast Beef Company and made off with the cash register and the safe.

Three suspects were arrested in Fresno County, California for looting a Walgreens and a Save Mart. In Santa Cruz, five men were arrested for burglarizing local shops during the shutdown.

Burglaries have shot up 87 percent in downtown Seattle, where local officials have ordered police to stop booking suspects arrested for most misdemeanors during the shutdown. In New York City, the NYPD reports a 75 percent increase in burglaries of businesses since March 12.

 

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