A man who torched a West Philly pharmacy during the 2020 racial justice protests was sentenced to 5 years in prison
Tyrone Wise pleaded guilty last year to igniting a blaze inside the SunRay Drugs pharmacy at the corner of Ludlow and 60th Streets
A Southwest Philadelphia man who torched a West Philly pharmacy during the 2020 racial justice protests was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison — the latest defendant to be incarcerated for setting fires as unrest coursed through the city for several days that spring.
Tyrone Wise, 34, pleaded guilty in federal court last year to igniting a blaze in the SunRay Drugs pharmacy at the corner of 60th and Ludlow Streets. Wise committed the crime as protests over the police murder of George Floyd devolved into chaos, and after looters had already robbed and ransacked the store, prosecutors said.
The five-year sentence was the mandatory minimum for the arson-related count to which Wise admitted.
In court Tuesday, he apologized, telling U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage that he had acted out of frustration and anger toward authorities, but that he had since come to realize that setting fire to a drugstore “was all for nothing.”
“I’m just completely embarrassed for my actions, and if I could take it all back, I would,” he said.
Wise entered the pharmacy the night of May 31, 2020, prosecutors said, not long after nearby protests spiraled out of control, with police deploying tear gas along the nearby 52nd Street corridor, some of which wafted into residential neighborhoods.
As looters began robbing businesses in the area, they ransacked the SunRay store on Ludlow Street. And shortly afterward, about 8:45 p.m., prosecutors said, Wise walked into the back of the store, placed an undetermined amount of stolen drugs into a trash can, then used a lighter to set fire to paper products before running away. He left the trash can with the stolen merchandise on the street.
The blaze spread throughout the shop, causing extensive damage to the pharmacy and several apartments that were housed above it. Surveillance photos included in court documents showed flames engulfing products in the store and a worker’s computer screen.
Wise is already serving a five-year sentence in state prison for an unrelated 2022 assault in which he beat up a neighbor who had gotten into an argument with his wife. He was convicted by a Philadelphia judge in 2023 of charges including aggravated assault.
Savage, the judge in the arson case, ruled that half of Wise’s five-year federal sentence would run at the same time as his state sentence, meaning he will serve an additional 2½ years in a federal facility once he is released from state custody.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Jayne said Wise was “very lucky” that the fire he set didn’t injure or kill anyone.
Wise’s attorney, Susan Lin, meanwhile, said Wise — who endured a difficult childhood with parents who were often absent — hoped to continue being a caring and engaged father to his four daughters, both while he remains incarcerated and after he is released.