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SPORTS> North America
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Chief blames 'knuckleheads' for Lakers disturbance
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-16 14:21 Street celebrations that began peacefully turned ugly. Fires were set, objects were thrown at police officers, several businesses were looted and buses, police cars and other vehicles were vandalized. Hooligans hurled rocks through the window of one bus abandoned under an overpass. Eight police officers were injured and 18 people were arrested Sunday night. Two more people were arrested Monday when neighbors of a looted shoe store alerted authorities to two residents of an adjacent building.
When officers knocked on their door they saw shoe boxes inside the apartment, said police Sgt. Mark Pearce. The man and woman, who were not immediately identified, were booked for investigation of theft. Inside The Holy Grail shoe store, shelves were empty and glass display cases were shattered. Receipts, paperwork and shoe boxes were scattered around a back storeroom. Store owner Richard Torres said he lost at least $100,000 worth of vintage sneakers and sports apparel, as well as computers. More than anything, he was upset because much of the stolen merchandise was burned. "It would be different if we got burglarized, but they were literally lighting stuff on fire," said Torres, whose business usually does well after games when sports fans stop in. "For this to happen, it leaves a sour taste," he said.
At a Shell gas station, assistant manager Jorge Osorio said looters took candy and sodas from its convenience store and fled. "So now we just clean up and move on," he said. Bratton told KNX radio that the Police Department was adequately prepared with resources staged in different areas of the city. "It's unfortunate that as we were dispersing those groups, making arrests, that a number of them for a period of time were able to commit the acts of vandalism, the looting ... until we were able to get sufficient resources," he said. The chief said he was not satisfied with what occurred, but he said the blame should fall on the mob, not the department or the city. Bratton said he anticipated more arrests as officers review media footage to "identify a lot of these characters, many of whom are gang members and are well known to us." Sunday's game was not shown on Staples Center's giant exterior TV screen. In 2000, a large crowd that watched the Lakers win the NBA title turned into a mob that torched police cars, a TV van and caused about $750,000 in property damage to businesses.
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