NYC business owner doubts criminals who looted her store will be punished: 'The system has failed us'

Jessica Betancourt, the owner of Bronx Optical Center, claimed on “Fox & Friends” on Monday that “no efforts were made” by New York City to find and arrest the looters who targeted her business during last year’s demonstrations that became a nearly nightly occurrence in the weeks after George Floyd’s death.

Though many suspects were captured pillaging stores on surveillance footage – and others more brazenly bragged about looting in videos shared on social media – Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. reportedly hasn’t moved forward with prosecuting cases after more than 485 arrests were made during the looting that swept across the borough in early June.  Vance Jr., whose office has instead been prioritizing preparing a case against the Trump Organization on allegations of tax, loan and insurance fraud, has dropped 222 of those looting cases, WNBC reported. There have been 73 convictions for lesser counts like trespassing which do not warrant jail time, NYPD data shows; 128 cases remain open and another 40 involving juveniles were sent to family court.  Crowds – with officers and emergency services crews following behind them – engaged in what authorities have called planned property damage at the storefronts for upscale designers in Manhattan.