Philly man gets jail term for 69th Street riot, looting
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Philadelphia man was sentenced to six to 23 months of incarceration and three years of probation Monday after pleading guilty to taking part in looting on 69th Street last summer.
Robert Jones, 30, of the 1600 block of Carpenter Street, entered a negotiated guilty plea before Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan to one count each of burglary and riot for breaking into the Rite Aid on May 31, 2020, with a group of other people.
The plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Glackin and defense counsel Stephen Schukraft also requires Jones to stay away from the Rite Aid at 123 S. 69th St.
Numerous stores along the 69th Street corridor were vandalized and looted as a large crowd descended on the shopping district from Philadelphia, police reported at the time. The rioting was an offshoot of mostly peaceful protests that took place in the region and across the country last year in response to the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin and similar killings.
Jones was identified as a suspect through surveillance camera footage inside the store, according to an affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Schukraft said his client was “caught up” in the looting and rioting and made a big mistake. Jones apologized Monday and said he had learned his lesson.
Brennan also ordered Jones to serve 670 days of backtime on a probation violation, but said he would be released after 90 days. Jones was given credit for time served from Feb. 25.