Thursday, March 28, 2024

Compton Residents React to Chaotic Street Takeovers and Looting | Video

*A large mob of violent looters took over the streets of Compton over the weekend and were filmed destroying property at a local gas station. 

The incident happened in the early morning hours of Sunday at the Arco near Alondra Boulevard and Central Avenue, ABC7 reports. The footage shows the wild mob busting into the gas station and stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise. The looters appeared to be mostly men wearing face coverings. Sheriff’s deputies in Compton were outnumbered and reportedly made no effort to diffuse the chaos. 

The gas station told ABC7 the clerk hid in the bathroom during the attack on the property and is doing okay.

Residents of Compton say these street takeovers have become a frequent problem.

READ MORE: Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Other Elected Officials Show Support for Compton NAACP Branch | PHOTOs

“This intersection, this goes down 2 to 3 nights a week. We hear the motors roaring, if you’re close by you probably can’t breathe after they got going,” said Ricky Finley, a resident of Compton.

“It’s unbelievable. Unreal. I’ve never seen anything like that happen here,” said resident Greg Johnson, RadarOnline reports. “They should think twice before doing something like that,” added auto mechanic Sal Avalos. “You’re impacting my family, other people as well.”

“It makes me angry,” said witness Norrice Heron to KTLA. “It makes me angry when [looters] do that to the streets and put everybody in danger.”

RadarOnline.com reports that there was additional looting and vandalism that included a break-in at a laundromat, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 

LASD said they are “currently limited with their staffed personnel” and “couldn’t intervene with the giant takeover groups for safety concerns” especially while largely “outnumbered.”

“That’s our number one problem is not having the personnel, the units to respond to street takeovers. If we have those personnel respond to just street takeovers there’s no one else left,” said Deputy Miguel Meza of the LASD.

Law enforcement officials are reportedly developing a plan to cease the increasing street takeovers in the city.

“We’re going to partner with CHP and LAPD to help us conduct several operations in Compton and other areas to avoid these street takeovers from occurring,” said Meza.

Compton City Councilmember Jonathan Bowers blames outsiders for “destroying” the city.

“I am totally disgusted,” he said. “I’m just upside down behind this. These kids coming in our city and just destroying it like this. In my opinion, the city has not done enough to quell this issue. There are other alternatives and ways to deal with this and I feel like we put it on the back burner and we’re dragging our feet as this thing is getting worse.”

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