St. Louis County PD finally seeking Ferguson looters

While things have obviously not returned entirely to normal in and around Ferguson, Missouri, people have to eventually get back to the normal business of day to day life. This includes the police, apparently, who had a lot of loose ends to tie up following all of the lawlessness and mayhem. Rod Kackley at PJ Media caught wind of some recent efforts by the St. Louis County PD to catch up with some of the looters via social media.

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But while the drama between legal minds plays out, St. Louis County, Mo., police officers enlisted the aid of the department’s Facebook page Jan. 5 as they launched a manhunt for “dozens of people” who looted a Phillips 66 gas station-convenience store in Dellwood, Mo.

A county police department post said 28 people were caught on camera entering the store during the “night of unrest in Ferguson” Nov. 24, following the grand jury decision that absolved Officer Wilson of all criminal charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Detectives watched on video as looters shattered the front door to get into the store. Once that happened, more than two dozen people streamed into the store and ransacked it.

The whole thing was caught by store surveillance cameras.

Here’s the video they put up. You’re free to watch the whole thing, but I’m not sure why it was all included without some editing for run time, because pretty much all of the action and the appearances of the identifiable criminals takes place in the first minute or so. (There were additional still photos published on Facebook, though.)

The police ask this question on their page:

Recognize these people? In total, surveillance cameras caught 28 suspects burglarizing a Phillips 66 gas station near Dellwood on November 24, 2014.

The initial efforts of the looters seem rather comical, particularly the first person to attempt to shatter the door. When they do finally break it, it is unclear what was used to break the glass. (Did they shoot the door? I’m not seeing any sort of blunt instrument being swung from the side.) But once it’s open, a group quickly comes in and an individual is seen leaving with something.

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There is apparently a good deal of unhappiness in the community over the decision of the police to publish the video and the photos. I’m not sure why, though. Businesses were destroyed, property was stolen and insurance claims have doubtless been filed by now to cover all the losses. The police are obligated to try to catch the bad guys as part of this process, and when you’ve got them on film in the midst of the act there shouldn’t be all that much difficulty in tracking somebody down.

One of the only exit questions here is not for the readers, but for the looters on the video. In 2014, who didn’t know that gas stations have surveillance cameras installed as a crime deterrent? Is the existence of this video really coming as a shock to anyone?

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