by Michael
What would you do to criminals that are using the California fires as an opportunity to loot homes? And what would you do to criminals that are setting additional fires? There are no words that are sufficient to describe the immense devastation that we are witnessing in the Los Angeles area. Thousands upon thousands of people have lost everything, and it is already being projected that this will be one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history. It is sickening that there are people out there that are so eager to take advantage of the suffering of others, but this is the world that we live in now. Dozens have already been arrested, and we are being told that “none of those arrested were actually living in the evacuation zone”…
Dozens of those accused of looting homes and stores in the ritzy Pacific Palisades enclave of LA during the deadly fires have been pictured in police mugshots.
Cops charged more than 40 detainees with various offenses including burglary and drug possession since the fires broke out on January 7.
Remarkably, none of those arrested were actually living in the evacuation zone and seemingly travelled with the intention of taking advantage of the devastation.
What do such people deserve?
One individual that got caught right in the middle of looting a home was actually dressed up as a firefighter…
“I saw a gentleman who looked like a firefighter, and I asked if he was OK because he was sitting down, and I didn’t realize we had him in handcuffs,” Luna said, according to CBS News. “We were turning him over to the LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman and was not. He just got caught burglarizing a home.”
A couple of arsonists have been arrested as well.
One of them was reportedly “caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch”…
Two people have also been arrested for lighting fires, including Ruben Montes, 29, who was detained for arson on Sunday in Irwindale, roughly 16 miles away from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.
Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was also taken into custody after allegedly being caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before he was confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
I am glad that they caught these guys, but what about all of the other arsonists that have been caught on video setting fires?
Hopefully they will be apprehended soon too.
According to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, there isn’t going to be any leniency for looters and arsonists that get arrested…
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Monday announced a number of charges against nine suspected looters and an alleged arsonist over the past week as wildfires ravaged the area.
“These crimes are appalling and represent a direct attack on our community during a time of unprecedented loss and vulnerability,” Hochman said. “Let me be clear: If you exploit this tragedy to prey on victims of these deadly fires, we will find you and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Because they have previous convictions, some of those that have been arrested could be facing life in prison…
Several of those arrested have previous felony convictions, leading to sentences that range from decades to life in prison if they’re convicted, Hochman said.
Could you imagine spending the rest of your life in prison?
The rest of your life is a long time.
But at least that is better than being dead.
In Florida, there isn’t widespread looting when a major disaster strikes because everyone knows that Florida is a state where the Second Amendment is taken very seriously…
In the free state of Florida, where the Second Amendment protecting gun rights is revered, not reviled, potential looters, after hurricanes for example, know that stealing from the wrong house could be a death sentence.
They know because Gov. Ron DeSantis told them so after the damage done to thousands of homes by Hurricane Milton last year.
“If you go into somebody’s house after the storm passes, think that you’re going to be able to commit crimes, you’re going to get in really serious trouble.” DeSantis promised, adding, “And quite frankly, you don’t know what’s behind that door in a Second Amendment state.”
Perhaps the state of California could learn a thing of two from the state of Florida.
Sadly, the crisis in the Los Angeles area is far from over.
In fact, the region is under a fourth “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning right now…
An unprecedented fourth “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning took effect Tuesday morning and is expected to last through Wednesday affecting swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The National Weather Service reserves the designation for signifying an extreme red flag warning, when especially hazardous fire weather conditions are expected.
On Tuesday, it was being reported that another major fire had broken out in the Ventura area…
The Auto Fire, which broke out Monday in Ventura County, has scorched about 56 acres, but firefighters have successfully halted its forward progress, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The blaze remains at 0% containment, underscoring the challenges emergency responders continue to face.
Thankfully, firefighters were able to get on top of this one very quickly.
And hopefully the winds will die down once we get past Wednesday.
But so much damage has already been done, and Los Angeles will never be the same again after this.
It is appropriate to grieve for what has been lost.
And this crisis should also be a major league wake up call for every American.
Historic natural disasters are hitting us with alarming frequency, we are far more vulnerable than most of us realize, there is widespread incompetence among our public officials, and when a major emergency strikes there are always going to be criminals that are eager to take advantage of it.
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