Philadelphia business owners cleaning up after nights of looting in Port Richmond
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Business owners in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia are cleaning up while preparing for the unknown after looters ransacked dozens of businesses and left behind expensive damage this week.
A crew with the Philadelphia Recycling Company is tasked with cleaning up a Five Below on Aramingo Avenue that got hit by looters this week.
WATCH: Looters ransack businesses in Philadelphia Port Richmond section
Some shelves were untouched, while others were knocked over.
Crew members said everything that fell onto the floor can not be resold, so instead of throwing it all away, the items will be donated locally.
Dozens of businesses that are boarded up look the same way inside.
The Wal-Mart on the other side of the parking lot was flooded after pipes were broken during the mayhem.
READ MORE: Community rallies for change after shooting of Walter Wallace Jr.
"We've been here 12 to 13 hours a day just trying to recover three locations that got completely shut down," said Jessica Muller, manager of Cricket Wireless.
Muller said the Cricket Wireless she manages on Aramingo Avenue got hit on Tuesday and Wednesday while they were trying to clean up.
"We were out front trying to board it up and it was just crazy. It went from 25 to 300 people in like a blink of an eye and they were just destroying everything. It was crazy," Muller said.
SEE ALSO: Looters hit businesses along City Ave. in Philadelphia, Montgomery County
All of it started after Philadelphia police shot and killed Walter Wallace Jr. who was armed with a knife in West Philadelphia Monday afternoon.
Many people peacefully protested while hundreds, if not thousands, of people decided to loot and destroy businesses putting employees out of work.
"I have a lot of moms at my store and they rely on this to feed their children, so it's devastating. I've been up every night worried about how they're going to put food on the table," Muller said.
