The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has promised to increase patrols in Altadena to combat looting as residents begin returning to their homes nearly two weeks after the Eaton Fire tore through the area.
The newly formed Looter Suppression Team will provide increased surveillance and a faster response to Altadena neighborhoods where residents were evacuated during the fires but may have been left unsafe. The sheriff’s office announced Tuesday.
In addition to conducting helicopter interviews, the team will be joined by other sheriff’s deputies at the scene.
“These efforts will ensure continuous 24-hour patrols, providing consistent and visible law enforcement, especially in areas still dealing with utility power outages and heightened public safety risks,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “The existence of this will be ensured.”
Several arrests have been made in the Eaton and Palisades fires in recent days, including two people arrested for posing as reporters and a couple from Oregon accused of posing as firefighters and using an abandoned fire truck. , including a robber suspect disguised in the Palisades fire zone. Firefighter.
A curfew remains in place in some parts of Altadena, but more road closures and evacuation orders have been lifted in recent days.
There is no set timeline for when the California National Guard will withdraw from the area, said Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Sibley. Shively said National Guard troops joined local law enforcement at road checkpoints in the days following the evacuation order, but were not responsible for “impacting arrests in evacuation areas.”
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