Guardian Angels rumble with looters at East Village sneaker store during George Floyd protest

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa 

Guardian Angels battled looters who flooded the East Village on Tuesday night and broke into a Foot Locker.

“We ran inside and started throwing guys out the door. There was loot on the floor,” said Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who may have suffered a broken jaw in the melee with 25 to 30 looters.

The Angels chased the looters out of the store — but the gang soon returned, in greater numbers, Sliwa said.

He figured the Foot Locker was a big draw for the group.

Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is pictured with fellow Guardians on Tuesday, shortly before the incident occurred. (Obtained by Daily News)

“This was the jewel in the crown. They were looking for the sneakers, limited edition,” Sliwa said. “This neighborhood has everything they want as looters."

Sliwa said some of the looters carried aluminum baseball bats, lock cutters and backpacks with tools to pry off plywood.

"Once they were inside, they summoned others with their smartphones. It was like flashmobbing or a hail of locusts."

By about 10:25 p.m., the crowd swelled to 300, Sliwa said, and tried again to get into the sneaker store and then a McDonald's.

The Guardian Angels linked arms as looters tossed lit fireworks at them. One of the looters attacked Sliwa and group member Aram Sabet. Others threw a bag of garbage at the Angels.

A ransacked Foot Locker after the looting Tuesday night. (Obtained by Daily News)

"They were hell bent on getting through us and getting to the McDonald's, and we just held our ground," Sliwa said, describing it as an "all-out battle."

Sliwa said he believed he broke his jaw when a looter hit him with a ball peen hammer. He said Sabet was hit hard in one eye with a metal device used to break windows.

Sliwa said cops eventually got to the scene, but they didn’t make any arrests, even though several were being detained by Guardia Angels.

“The police were in the distance, but they weren’t confronting them or making arrests,” he said. “The cops weren’t aggressive. They didn’t collar anyone. They were like chasing tornados, but never catching them. They kept telling them to go home.”

The injured Guardian Angels after the altercation Tuesday night. (Obtained by Daily News)

At one point, the police asked Sliwa if anyone was hurt, and offered help.

Sliwa said he believes the National Guard should be deployed to stop the looting — something that Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo have so far refused to do.

"Too bad Cuomo and de Blasio weren't here to see this," he said. "When the sun goes down, the streets are left to the looters and the thugs."

On previous nights, Sliwa noted, there were a number of cars with New Jersey plates being used to get away with looted items, and Citibikes and electric scooters were in heavy use.

"There was far less traffic tonight, and they finally shut down the bikes and the scooters, so maybe they are beginning to understand the methods of the looters."

From the East Village, the looters headed up Broadway and broke into a boutique, Sliwa said.

Again, police made no arrests, he said.

Only when the group reached 25th St. and Broadway did police begin handcuffing looters after they began fighting among themselves and smashing windows.