LET ’EM LOOT
DAs drop charges against hundreds in 2020 NY riots
The Bronx and Manhattan district attorneys have simply tossed out hundreds of cases against people charged in last year’s looting and riot rampages following George Floyd’s murder. “I was in total shock . . . They could do it again because they know they won’t get the right punishment,” said a woman whose shop was plundered.
Hundreds of alleged looters and rioters who were busted in the city last summer in protests over George Floyd’s murder by police have had their charges dropped, according to NYPD data — figures ripped as “disgusting” by a local business owner.
In The Bronx — which saw fires in the street and mass looting in June 2020 — more than 60 percent of those arrested have had charges dropped, according to an investigation by NBC New York.
Seventy-three of the 118 people arrested in the borough had their cases dismissed, while another 19 were convicted on lesser counts like trespassing, which carries no jail time, the station reported.
Eighteen cases remain open. NBC did not account for the other eight arrests.
“Those numbers, to be honest with you, are disgusting,” Jessica Betancourt, who owns a Bronx eyeglass store that was looted and who is vice president of a local merchants association, told NBC.
“I was in total shock that everything is being brushed off to the side,” she said.
“They could do it again because they know they won’t get the right punishment.”
In Manhattan — where looters ran rampant in Soho and Midtown — 222 of the 485 people arrested had their cases dropped, while 73 got lesser counts.
Another 128 have open criminal court cases, while 40 juvenile defendants had their cases moved to Family Court, NBC found.
Sources in district attorneys’ offices said that in many of the cases, the evidence was not strong enough to secure a conviction. The offices are also swamped with a backlog of cases created by the courts’ closure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former NYPD Chief of Patrol Wilbur Chapman said the DAs and courts had “allowed people who committed crimes to go scot-free.”
“If they are so overworked that they can’t handle the mission that they’re hired for, then maybe they should find another line of work,” Chapman told NBC.
Two of the top Democratic mayoral candidates panned the dismissals on Sunday.
“Everyone needs to be safe in their communities, and store owners need to know that their property is going to be protected,” Kathryn Garcia said in a statement. “When I’m mayor, I will work to ensure the NYPD partners with the district attorney’s office to make sure that they have the resources and support they need to seek accountability and justice.”
Andrew Yang said: “While the vast majority of those protesting last year did so peacefully, those who broke the law, broke windows, destroyed small businesses and acted violently and recklessly must be held accountable.”
Eric Adams did not respond to a question about the NBC report at a Sunday campaign event. The campaign of Maya Wiley didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark declined NBC’s requests for an interview, as did Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., the station said.
The station cited an internal memo in which Vance says there are more than 3,500 unindicted felony cases on hold due to the pandemic.
In the memo, he tells his prosecutors that before dropping a case, they should review a defendant’s criminal history and determine whether police could place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect caused “any damage to the store.”
“For many of these commercial burglaries, you will be asked to reduce the initial felony charge to a misdemeanor and to dispose of the case . . . with an eye towards rehabilitation,” Vance tells his office, according to NBC.
Court spokesman Lucian Chalfen told NBC that the decisions to dismiss cases were primarily made by the district attorneys.
“An application must be made by the district attorney or, as they have done with hundreds of DATs [desk appearance tickets], decline to prosecute them,” Chalfen said.