Cars damaged by unruly crowds in North Philadelphia ahead of Super Bowl 57
Police are looking to identify 9 individuals in connection with the vandalism on Arlington Street.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Even before the Eagles faced the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57, chaos was unfolding in North Philadelphia.
A group of people was caught on video going on a destructive rampage near Temple University.
They flipped one car and damaged several others.
On Monday night, police released images of nine people wanted in connection with the vandalism.
Action News spoke with someone who knows the owner of the car being flipped in the 1700 block of Arlington Street on Sunday afternoon.
"I was inside, and I heard someone say the car got flipped, and I remembered, like, his car was there, and I was like, 'there's no way it's his car.' I looked out the window and sure enough, it was a silver Volvo," said Temple University senior Jacob Lee.
But that was just the beginning.
Another video, from that same crowd, shows young people damaging Richard Pierce's car just a few feet away.
"I saw this young lady standing on my hood. So, I came downstairs to tell her to get off my hood," Pierce said. "But I couldn't get out my door, there were so many people on my block."
A photo shows just how many people packed in the area in the hours leading up to the big game.
The roadway remained covered with trash, mostly beer cans and liquor bottles, on Monday morning.
Pierce's car was also trashed. It had smashed windows, the door handles ripped off, and nothing remained where his side-view mirrors once were.
But Pierce has been able to recover the ice scraper used to club his car, and there is a lot of video of the people responsible.
"I called Philadelphia police and filed a report. Called Temple Police and filed a report, and I just called Temple University's president. I'm going to file a formal complaint, and now I got to call my insurance company," he said.
Meanwhile, Ruby Dixon, who says her car was damaged as well on Sunday, says this is not the first time her collegiate neighbors have behaved poorly.
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"The trash on this block. Nobody bags this stuff up, it's becoming a rat problem around here," Dixon said. "I'm frustrated because this is something that is constantly happening."
"They destroyed the whole block," Dixon continued. "They don't clean up after themselves, like, what is going to be done? That is all I'm trying to figure out."
The incidents happened in an area with a lot of off-campus housing for Temple students. In a statement, the university said in part:
"The university can take action against students who violate the student conduct code, and this would be in addition to any charges by police."
As of now, no arrests have been made. The incident is being investigated by Temple police.
