After New York City descended into widespread looting and vandalism in mid-2020, the Bronx District Attorney (DA) has dropped charges against a majority of the arrested rioters, NBC New York reported Friday.

The outlet continued:

NYPD [New York Police Department] data reviewed by the NBC New York I-Team shows 118 arrests were made in the Bronx during the worst of the looting in early June. Since then, the NYPD says the Bronx DA and the courts have dismissed most of those cases – 73 in all. Eighteen cases remain open and there have been 19 convictions for mostly lesser counts like trespassing, counts which carry no jail time.

…

In Manhattan, the NYPD data shows there were 485 arrests. Of those cases, 222 were later dropped and 73 seeing convictions for lesser counts like trespassing, which carries no jail time. Another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court; 128 cases remain open.

Former NYPD Chief of Patrol Wilbur Chapman shared his disagreement with the DA’s dropping of the numerous looting and burglary cases.

“If they are so overworked that they can’t handle the mission that they’re hired for, then maybe they should find another line of work,” he stated.

Sources with the DA’s offices reportedly told the outlet that evidence, in some instances, was not strong enough for proof beyond a reasonable doubt and because the courts were closed during the pandemic, there was a massive backlog of cases.

“The NYPD did set up a task force after the riots to examine videos and photos to separate out suspected rioters from peaceful protesters,” the article noted.

Breitbart News reported on June 1, 2020, that looters grabbed $2.4 million worth of watches once they broke into a Rolex store in New York’s Soho neighborhood.

“[A] plethora of luxury brands — all of whom endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement — have had their stores ransacked and looted by rioters over the past few days,” the article read.

In addition, the outlet reported on June 3, 2020, looters also ransacked a mom-and-pop pharmacy in the Bronx, decimating a business that took the family 14 years to get up and running.

According to Chapman, although the NYPD did perform some follow-up, data revealed the district attorneys and courts did not.

“It allowed people who committed crimes to go scot free,” Chapman concluded.