Book 'em: The Oscar Grant Looters
Three-quarters of the 78 people arrested in Thursday's riot in Oakland came from outside the city, Police Chief Anthony Batts said Friday.
But it was Oakland's residents and business owners - like Steven Suzio - who were left to pay the price.
The pawnshop owner paid $2,000 Friday morning to repair two broken windows and a smashed-in door at his Oakland Coin & Jewelry Exchange shop.
"I can understand everybody's being upset with the verdict," Suzio, 62, said as a glass installer pounded out repairs at his Broadway Street store. "But there's no reason to take it out on the local businesses."
The raucous protests started hours after a jury convicted former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of passenger Oscar Grant. The jury rejected the more serious options of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.
Demonstrators damaged 100 downtown businesses. They sprayed anti-police graffiti on storefronts, broke windows, stole merchandise, set trash bins on fire and clashed with police officers from 15 Bay Area law-enforcement agencies.
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