BPD: 9 arrests made by anti-looting detail

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Nine arrests have been made on Tuesday by the Buffalo Police Department's Anti-Looting Detail, Buffalo police have announced.

An anti-looting task force was established to keep the looting in check, which was announced by Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia on Tuesday morning. They announced that four arrests were made by plain clothes detectives between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., with four more having been announced since. Many social media videos have shown that people are taking more than just essential items. As for the eight arrests that have been made Tuesday, no additional details were made public.

“This isn’t people stealing food and medicine and diapers,” Gramaglia said. “They are destroying stores, they’re stealing televisions, couches, whatever they can get their hands on. They’re opportunists, they’re taking advantage. And all you’re doing is destroying the resource you have.”

He added that the Erie County District Attorney is aware of the incidents and will jointly prosecute offenders.

In a press conference on Monday, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown called the looters "the lowest of the low."

“People who are out looting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm is just absolutely reprehensible,” Brown said Monday. “I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror. They are the lowest of the low."

On Wednesday morning, police announced a ninth arrest in connection with storm-related business break-ins.

Many stores have been closed since Friday due to the "once in a generation" storm that has brought Western New York to a standstill. Wegmans and Tops Friendly Markets locations in the area have reopened, but many other stores remain closed.

Anyone with information on looting suspects is asked to call the confidential TIPCALL line at 716-847-2255.