Prosecutors on Monday charged nine people with looting in areas burned by the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires and charged another man with intentionally setting fire to Azusa Park during last week’s firestorm. .
A trio of men are accused of stealing $200,000 worth of valuables from a Mandeville Canyon home early Thursday morning, and another group was accused of stealing $200,000 worth of valuables from a home in Altadena during the Eaton fire, according to the Los Angeles County District. He is accused of stealing personal property, including awards. Atty. Nathan Hockman.
“Let me be clear: If you exploit this tragedy to prey on the victims of this deadly fire, we will find you and punish you to the fullest extent of the law. We will prosecute,” Hochman said.
The charges filed Monday involve three separate alleged looting incidents in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where fires collectively burned 35,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. At least 25 people have died, but the number is expected to rise.
In one incident, authorities said Ring cameras captured several men moving through a home on Mandeville Canyon Road, a street lined with multimillion-dollar homes at the entrance to a popular hiking trail. Two of the men, Matrell Peoples, 22, and Damari Bell, 21, were arrested the next day near an apartment in Koreatown and charged with looting and burglary, Hochman said. , police said they recovered some of the stolen property at the home.
A third suspect, 27-year-old Travon Coleman, is suspected of fleeing during the attempted arrest and causing a motor vehicle crash that injured a bystander, Hockman said. Coleman is charged with hit and run. He and Peoples each have previous convictions for violent felonies and could be sentenced to life in prison under California’s three-strikes law.
The other six people – Rudy Salazar (19 years old), Lucia Gillara Perez (36 years old), Roy Sims (18 years old), Ryan Sims (19 years old), Naquan Dewey Reddix (22 years old). , Pierrie O’Bannon, 19, was charged with burglary for thefts from several Altadena homes in the Eaton area. Hochman said the area of fire broke out last week.
“Don’t be willing to commit looting, internet fraud, price gouging, and violating evacuation orders,” Hochman said Monday. “Don’t commit crimes where people try to profit from a tragedy.”
Officials also showed footage of fallen trees bursting into flames at Pioneer Park in Azusa, just two miles from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The fire is not related to the wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles County, but Police Chief Rocky Wenrick said last week’s dangerously strong winds could have easily spread the fire.
Jose Gerardo Escobar, 39, was charged with three counts of arson, Hochman said. Authorities have not said what the motive was behind the fire.
The Azusa incident was the second suspected arson incident since a deadly wave of fires swept through the Los Angeles area. Last week, Ventura County officials named 33-year-old Juan Sierra a “person of interest” in the Kenneth Fire, which has burned nearly 1,000 acres near the Los Angeles-Ventura county line and threatened homes in Calabasas.
Sierra was arrested Thursday afternoon in the West Hills neighborhood after a resident saw him “trying to start a fire,” according to law enforcement documents obtained by the Times. As of Monday afternoon, the case had not yet been submitted to the Ventura County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office.
Officials have not determined the cause of the recent fires, but the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ national response team is investigating.
Under California law, robberies committed in areas where a state of emergency or evacuation order has been issued due to a natural disaster or riot is a crime of plunder. The Los Angeles Police Department and Sheriff’s Department reported nearly 60 arrests combined for looting and curfew violations as of Monday, and the number of charges is expected to increase in the coming days. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna also said he expects reports of robberies in fire protection areas to increase as people are allowed to return to affected areas.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Detectives Alan Hamilton said several people were arrested over the weekend for posing as firefighters while attempting to enter evacuation zones. Hamilton said the men “conspired to engage in illegal activities, including looting, in the area” of the Palisades Fire, and expected charges to be filed in the near future with the District Attorney’s Office.
Since the fire broke out, residents and law enforcement leaders have remained on high alert for potential looters. On Thursday, Luna and Superintendent Kathryn Berger cited looting arrests in the remains of the Palisades and Eaton fires as part of the reason for summoning 400 National Guard troops to Los Angeles County.
curfews were also imposed in parts of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and Altadena, giving law enforcement the power to arrest anyone found in restricted areas.
Residents in the fire-stricken area seem to be increasingly feeling a sense of crisis.
At Kenter Canyon in Brentwood on Saturday, signs were posted at several evacuees stating the premises were being monitored by both surveillance cameras and private security personnel to deter potential thefts. . While most other vehicles were coming down the hill, LAPD cruisers and private security trucks were prevalent in the neighborhood.
In Santa Monica, police removed at least 150 people from an evacuation zone adjacent to the Palisades last week and recorded 42 arrests, according to Lt. Erica Akulfi.
Ten of those arrests were for robbery and six were for possession of robbery tools, she said. The remaining arrests were for other violations, including curfew, drug possession, driving violations, outstanding warrants, and parole and probation violations. None of those arrested were from Santa Monica.
“We cannot allow people to prey on the devastation that has already occurred,” said L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath. “No one should take advantage of residents who have been forced to evacuate for safety.”
Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
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