Teens Break Into Stores, Loot & Vandalize Businesses Across Philadelphia Tuesday Night

Philadelphia police certainly had their hands full Tuesday evening as large groups of "young people" caused chaos across Philadelphia as they vandalized businesses across Philadelphia (including in Center City).

It reportedly started around 7:30 p.m. when a group of more than 100 "young people" assembled in Center City.

They were seen looting the Center City Foot Locker store (at 15th and Chestnut) around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening. Calls continued to come in from other retailers including a Lululemon (at 17th and Walnut) and an Apple Store (at 16th and Walnut).

Each retailer reported thefts, including the Apple Store. Reports say that phones tablets and more were stolen.

However, some of the items were already recovered as Apple's tracking devices was able to deter the thieves, reports say.

Additionally, at each store a handful of arrests were made.

The chaos spread out of Center City as the night went on. There were reports of break-ins at a Rite Aid in Cobbs Creek and businesses along both Aramingo Avenue and Roosevelt Blvd were hit.

In total more than 20 people were arrested in Tuesday's nights activities, a majority of whom were minorities.

Police told the media, however, that the lawlessness was not related to an earlier protest over the fatal police shooting of Eddie Irizarry.

About 100 people protested near City Hall after the charges were dropped against Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial Tuesday afternoon.

Police say that the protest remained peaceful.

"What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and make an attempt to destroy our city," Interim Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford said in a late-night press conference on Tuesday.