San Francisco police arrested 35 vandals who broke windows, painted Mission Street stores and lit fires after the Giants swept the World Series over the Tigers Sunday night. Christie Smith reports.
San Francisco on Monday began cleaning up parts of the city after vandals wreaked havoc while celebrating the Giants sweep of the Tigers in the World Series on Sunday night.
Crews from the city's Department of Public Works worked overnight through the morning, cleaning the streets of garbage and debris. San Francisco police told NBC Bay Area that 35 people were arrested on a variety of charges stemming from the vandalism that occurred during the post-game celebration. Most of the night had been jubilant and peaceful, until the vandals took over about 11 p.m.
Vandalism included bonfires set along along Mission Street and around AT&T Park, and beer bottles thrown at police. Some fans hopped on top of Muni buses and cars along Market Street; at least one car had been tipped on its side. Windows of stores were broken, and Dumpsters were torched.
At least one fan was disappointed with that behavior.
"Why do they have to throw things at buildings?" asked Kristen Wells, a Giants fan who saw no point in destroying property when her favorite baseball team just won the World Series. Some said that the vandals weren't fans at all, just hoodlums taking advantage of the situation.
The vandalism marred what had started out as a tense but joyous occasion for San Francisco.
Most of the Giants fans — about 10,000 of them — had gathered at Civic Center Plaza outside City Hall to watch the game on a huge television screen. They erupted in cheers when the final out was made in the bottom of the 10th inning before 9 p.m.
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Two years ago, fans acted similarly when the Giants also won the World Series in 2010. That year, a patrol car was damaged, at least three private vehicles had their windows smashed, a window of a Giants' dugout store was broken, and one couch was destroyed after being lit on fire and tossed out a window. There were also reports of graffiti on store windows in the Mission district.
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