Los Angeles County public officers issued a warning that these burglarizing and looting evacuated properties through the Southern California wildfires shall be held accountable.
The Sheriff’s Division has made at the least 20 arrests for the reason that fires broke out Tuesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger instructed reporters Thursday.
“In the midst of the emergency, we have all seen individuals who are targeting vulnerable communities by burglarizing and looting homes,” she said. “This is simply unacceptable.”
Barger mentioned legislation enforcement is proactively patrolling impacted communities to forestall prison exercise.
“I promise you, you will be held accountable,” she said. “Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis.”
A number of wildfires continued to decimate Southern California on Thursday, with greater than 180,000 folks underneath evacuation orders and greater than 420,000 with out energy.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, whereas talking with reporters Thursday, condemned looters and vowed to take motion.
“I’m going to make this crystal clear to everybody out there,” he mentioned. “Over last night and this morning, we are up to 20 individuals who chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people, who have been through so much, of their property. Absolutely unacceptable.”
Luna mentioned deputy deployment has been elevated, and unauthorized people encountered in obligatory evacuation zones shall be topic to arrest.
“I hope that is as clear as I can make it because our first choice isn’t to do enforcement. It’s not to make arrest. It’s to help people,” he mentioned. “But when folks select to commit crimes, they’ll be held accountable.
“As you know, when we have an evacuation order, by law, if you remain in that area, you are guilty of a misdemeanor,” he mentioned. “If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony. I’m going to be asking our employees to start enforcing that.”
An Altadena man recounts sneaking into his smoke-damaged condo to save lots of his turtles.
