Southeast Atlanta grocery looted during winter storm
A small southeast Atlanta grocery store and taco stand was looted by nearly a dozen people during the height of last week's winter storm, Channel 2 Action News is reporting.
Security cameras caught two men using a hammer to break through the front door of the Las Americas Market on Lakewood Terrace during the early-morning hours of Jan. 10.
"It looks like there was a burglary, but then the neighbors came in," store owner Polo Rico told Channel 2. "After they broke the door, everybody started coming in."
Security cameras continued recording while nearly a dozen people looted the store over the next 12 hours, stealing cash from the register and emptying the shelves of food and other merchandise.
"I guess it got around the neighborhood, and other people thought they could come in and take what they wanted," co-owner Bob Reece told Channel 2.
Rico told the station that he had used his life savings to open and stock the store in the Lakewood Heights neighborhood.
"They put us out of business for a while until we can recoup our losses," Reece said.
