#Hundreds of ‘looters’ to be cut loose without bail #News

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Police outside the Goyard store on 63rd Street and Madison Avenue after it was looted.
Robert Mecea

More than 400 people were awaiting arraignment in Manhattan criminal court Tuesday afternoon for allegedly looting stores Monday night — and most will likely be cut loose without bail because of the state law passed earlier this year, a court spokesperson said.

By 4 p.m., a majority of the 400 people arrested were awaiting arraignment and most will be hit with a felony burglary charge for which bail cannot be set, meaning they will be released, New York State Court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said in an email.

Chalfen added Manhattan criminal court was operating two arraignment parts Tuesday afternoon and night to process the paperwork of the hundreds arrested.

In an interview with The Post earlier Tuesday, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan lamented that most of the looters arrested Monday night and early Tuesday morning would be “back out.”

“But when it comes to a burglary, which is a commercial store, which is looting, they’re back out,” he said.

“Because of bail reform, you’re back out on the street the next day. You cannot be held on any sort of bail. I spoke to (Manhattan District Attorney) Cy Vance about that. He told me there was nothing he could do,” he added.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference Tuesday morning that about 700 people were arrested during widespread looting in Manhattan and the Bronx.

In the chaos, looters ransacked dozens of stores in Midtown Manhattan, including Macy’s flagship shop at Herald Square.