Riot, vandalism leave Santa Cruz leaders, merchants outraged
SANTA CRUZ - Downtown business owners spent Sunday repairing shattered windows and doors after a May Day rally Saturday night turned into a riot with approximately 250 people marching along Pacific Avenue, some carrying makeshift torches, throwing large rocks and paint bombs, and spray-painting walls with graffiti.
At least 18 businesses suffered damage during the rally in honor of international workers that began at 9 p.m. and escalated into mayhem around 10:30 p.m., police said. Investigators estimated damage at $100,000, though some business owners said it could be more. No injuries were reported.
On Sunday, sea green-colored glass littered sidewalks where windows and glass doors had been smashed. Maintenance workers, many getting called in the middle of the night, boarded up windows with plywood until new sheets of glass could be installed. The vandalized businesses included Urban Outfitters, Peet's Coffee, Noah's Bagels, Jamba Juice, Velvet Underground and Dell Williams Jewelers. The unoccupied Rittenhouse building also was damaged. A police car was vandalized with rocks and paint, department spokesman Zach Friend said. Roxie Jones, a resident at Palomar Apartments, spent Sunday morning cleaning yellow paint blobs off of her white Pontiac Grand Prix, which was parked on Pacific Avenue during the riot.
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SANTA CRUZ - Downtown business owners spent Sunday repairing shattered windows and doors after a May Day rally Saturday night turned into a riot with approximately 250 people marching along Pacific Avenue, some carrying makeshift torches, throwing large rocks and paint bombs, and spray-painting walls with graffiti.
At least 18 businesses suffered damage during the rally in honor of international workers that began at 9 p.m. and escalated into mayhem around 10:30 p.m., police said. Investigators estimated damage at $100,000, though some business owners said it could be more. No injuries were reported.
On Sunday, sea green-colored glass littered sidewalks where windows and glass doors had been smashed. Maintenance workers, many getting called in the middle of the night, boarded up windows with plywood until new sheets of glass could be installed. The vandalized businesses included Urban Outfitters, Peet's Coffee, Noah's Bagels, Jamba Juice, Velvet Underground and Dell Williams Jewelers. The unoccupied Rittenhouse building also was damaged. A police car was vandalized with rocks and paint, department spokesman Zach Friend said. Roxie Jones, a resident at Palomar Apartments, spent Sunday morning cleaning yellow paint blobs off of her white Pontiac Grand Prix, which was parked on Pacific Avenue during the riot.
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The owners of Zocolli's Italian deli on Pacific Avenue received phone calls at home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday alerting them to the uprising. The fact that their business escaped damage didn't diminish their anger over the vandalism downtown.
"It's disgusting," Caitlin Zocolli said. "They're just making themselves look terrible. It just makes them look like animals. For all they know, we're all on their side."
Katy Hope of Newport Beach was shocked to see the destruction while shopping downtown with her daughter Rosie on Sunday.
"This isn't a protest. This is violence," Hope said. "This is really wrong."
Georgeta Cole, a Sacramento resident visiting Santa Cruz for the day with her fiance, said the vandalism was inexcusable.
"It's irritating that people destroy property to get their point across," Cole said. "It's horrible."
