Residents who have already suffered after losing their homes at Eton Fire now have to worry about other things: robbery.
Ethan Marquez, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Altadena Department, confirmed with KTLA that 142 robberies had been reported in the Eton Fire Burn area since the beginning of the year.
It shows an increase of “hundreds of percent,” he said.
The rise in crime has raised great concern among local residents who say that the community usually doesn’t have many robberies. What exacerbates the problem is the fact that over 1,600 homes have been lost to the flames, leaving behind “many eyes” to watch out for malicious activities in the area.
“The majority of the population hasn’t returned to the area, so it doesn’t have that much of an eye on itself,” said said during Marquez. “We now have the opportunity to try and take advantage of that.”
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Kimberly Cheng of KTLA 5 spoke with one property owner in Altadena on Monday.
Refusing to go to cameras, he said his home has been hit three times since the Eton fire broke out on January 7th.
The first incident happened the night when the fire broke out after his family was evacuated, he said. He has been targeted twice more in the past three weeks. The robber took tools and photographic equipment from his garage.
At least two other nearby homes on the same street were also attacked, the man added.
An anonymous resident told KTLA he believes more patrols in the neighborhood will help.
These patrols should mainly be done at night. This should mainly be done at night, he noted, as he is busy with contractors and debris removal crews during the day.
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Speaking about the existence of law enforcement in the area, fifth district superintendent Katherine Berger said the district, including Atadena, “said not.” [her] Calling “Whether or not more officers can be deployed.”
“What I was told is that the National Guard is in this area. [but] She told KTLA on Monday. [being deployed] It was too much. ”
“At the end of the day, we have [the sheriff’s department] Here, and I would rather provide additional resources [them] To do more patrols,” Burger added.
Affected residents can sign up for a home check program so that patrol units can check their homes regularly. To do this, please send an email to altadenahomecheck@lasd.org with your name, address and callback number.
