Three Center City Shops, Already Boarded Up Due To Recent Looting, Burglarized Again Overnight, Authorities Say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Three Center City shops, already boarded up due to recent looting and unrest, were burglarized yet again overnight. Police say the thieves pried open a back door.
Police say the Men's Wearhouse and Old Navy on Chestnut Street were not only looted during recent riots, they were burglarized overnight Saturday.
The alarms inside both stores were set off around 5 a.m. Saturday on the 1600 block of Chestnut Street.
Police believe the suspects entered through the back of one store and then crossed into the other.
Authorities were able to track down at least one suspect near 16th and Sansom Streets after he was spotted pushing a shopping cart filled with stolen items.
Over on the 1500 block of Walnut Street, police were back at the Champion store on Saturday evening, investigating a burglary at the store. Thieves broke into that structure about an hour before the burglaries over on Chestnut Street.
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Police say between six and seven people broke in from the rear, prying the door open. Police responded within five minutes of the alarm going off to find two white men escaping the rear of the store with their arms filled with merchandise.
The officer waited for backup and apprehended them on the 1500 block of Samson Street and took them into custody. Back at the store, police also encountered a Black woman behind the counter ruffling through the drawers. She allegedly told police she was searching for mints.
According to police, both of her hands were filled with mints. She was also in possession of narcotics.
Officers took her into custody for further investigation.
Investigators are still searching for the other suspects involved in the burglaries.
It's unclear at this time if the burglaries at both locations are related.