Caught on video: Huge crowd leaving illegal sideshow ransacks nearby 7-Eleven in Harbor-Gateway
Dozens of people who were part of a street takeover also looted a 7-Eleven convenience store in Harbor-Gateway, and police are asking for help identifying some involved.
"I live in the apartment next door," said neighbor Lisa Trafton. "I was ready to go to sleep. All of a sudden I heard a bunch of notice. Cars doing donuts."
Police had just broken up an illegal sideshow at the corner of Figueroa Street and El Segundo Boulevard when they discovered a large crowd of those spectators had looted a nearby 7-Eleven. Only one employee was working at the store during the rush, but that person was not hurt.
"Cars were just going everywhere," said neighbor Lisa Trafton. "And then I looked into the store because I wanted to get a pop and the store's totally trashed."
Security video released by the LAPD shows dozens of people streaming into the store. At first, many people appeared to be simply shopping for snacks, but suddenly others started running in, ransacking shelves and jumping the counter to grab items behind the register. Candy, chips, and drinks were left strewn all over the store, and a cash register was destroyed, but it's not clear if any money was taken.
"Angry mob mentality inside the store," said Det. Ryan Moreno. "They started ransacking the place, taking food, cigarettes, lottery tickets — tried to get the cashier's box."
Investigators asked residents to help police find a man seen wearing a Colorado Rockies cap and a Backwoods Jersey.
"This guy started grabbing food and chips and started throwing bananas at the worker who's basically hiding in the back," said Moreno.
Police added that they will start confiscating cars of both drivers and spectators at street takeovers.
"If they're going to start doing this kind of stuff, inconveniencing people, locking up freeways and taking over freeways, cars are going to start disappearing real soon," Moreno said.
People in the area said they have been seeing businesses disappearing lately and fear more investments may go away, if the bad behavior continues.
"We're losing a lot of stuff and we're not going to have the resources," said Compton resident Kevin Hosley. "People are going to pull out of us. A lot of us can't afford to move to $700,000 homes. We're stuck. We got to live in it but people don't want to take care of what we got."
In addition to the suspect in the Rockies cap, LAPD is asking for help identifying any of the people who were seen in the video looting the store.
"It could be someone you might work with, go to school with," said Moreno. "It could be someone's kid or family or an ex. We really urge your help and have these people come forward."
Anyone with information can contact LAPD detectives Ryan Moreno or Mike Flanner at (323) 421-2500.