14 DAY TRIAL // A group of teens has planned out a looting session in Hollywood following the protests for George Zimmerman's acquittal.
The gang came together at Hollywood and Vine, and police believe that the message was sent out via social media.
The first ones started showing up at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 16 and they targeted stores located in the famous part of Hollywood.
Cmdr. Andrew Smith suspects that the teenagers were aware of the fact that officers were sent out to the Crenshaw District following rioting in the area after the Trayvon Martin trial.
"[They] decided that this would be a good night to come up to Hollywood and act a little crazy," Smith explains.
They stole T-shirts, cellphones, souvenirs and even food from nearby businesses and passersby, SCPR reports.
Roughly 40 people gathered and started running in and out of stores, stealing merchandise or knocking it to the ground.
"They were kids, all kids. [...] I've never seen crazy people like that," describes witness Lenny Padilla. He is the cashier at T-Island, a store that incurred $600 in lost or damaged merchandise.
LA Weekly mentions that the damages were not very high, and the teens probably just thought it would be fun to rampage through stores.
The publication has obtained a clip taken inside a diner, which has been attached below this news article. It shows a group knock down a sign.
"Really there was no big financial gain on this thing, [...] it was just a bunch of misguided children, going out and committing wrong," Smith says.
"They said, 'let's go to Hollywood and have a riot,'" he adds.
LAPD Commander Dennis Kato explains that police have made 14 arrests, mostly for robbery and receiving stolen property. No cash was stolen except a tip jar in the diner, and no injuries have been reported so far.
