Approximately 29 folks have been arrested in Los Angeles to date in connection to prison exercise associated to the continued wildfires, together with a housebreaking suspect who allegedly tried to disguise himself as a firefighter, officers stated Sunday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated 25 of these arrested have been within the space of the Eaton Fire, whereas 4 others got here from the Palisades Fire evacuated zone.
“When I used to be on the market within the Malibu space, I noticed a gentleman that seemed like a firefighter. And I requested him if he was okay as a result of he was sitting down. I did not notice we had him in handcuffs,” Luna recalled to reporters. “We are turning him over to LAPD as a result of he was dressed like a fireman, and he was not. He simply received caught burglarizing a house. So these are points that our entrance line deputies and law enforcement officials are coping with.”
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell stated one individual was arrested Saturday night time for violating a curfew order within the metropolis, and three others have been arrested the night time earlier than in connection to an alleged housebreaking.
“There have been three people in a car. They have been stopped. They have been the place they weren’t presupposed to be. One had on a hearth jacket and a hearth hat. And he was moreover arrested for impersonating a firefighter,” McDonnell stated. “We have individuals who will go to all ends to have the ability to do what it’s they wish to do to use the victims of this tragedy.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna speaks throughout an Eaton Fire press convention on Jan. 9, 2025, at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif. ( Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
The chief warned that the 6 p.m. to six a.m. native time curfew remained in impact from Sunday night time into Monday.
“Unless you are a public security personnel or another catastrophe employee, you don’t have any cause to be at these areas,” McDonnell stated. “And if you’re in these areas, you’ll be topic to arrest. Enforcing a curfew is a vital device to maintain the burn areas and evacuated properties safe, holding looters out. This effort additionally helps shield public security personnel who’re working in darkness in very tough circumstances.”
He additionally stated there was a risk from downed energy traces and poisonous supplies from burned plastics and different composite supplies. The chief warned folks seeking to donate to victims to take warning and analysis charities to confirm their legitimacy.
Firefighters battle to include wildfires, which have scorched hundreds of acres, and destroyed houses in Los Angeles on Jan. 12, 2024. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu by way of Getty Images)
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Luna points a warning to scammers who intend to revenue from burglaries or “white collar” crimes off the victims of the wildfires that he has been in shut communication with native, state and federal prosecutors.
“They are all wanting to prosecute anyone who’s making the most of our residents throughout this very tough time, whether or not it’s a housebreaking or it’s some sort of white collar crime in a rip-off or something that you could be be occupied with doing,” he stated.
At the press convention, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger stated she despatched a letter to President-elect Trump inviting him to go to the wildfire devastation.
A view of burned homes and vehicles in Pacific Palisades neighborhood throughout Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 11, 2025. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu by way of Getty Images)
“I look ahead to welcoming President-elect Trump to our communities so he can see the determined want, but in addition the unimaginable alternative, hope and perseverance of our impacted neighbors. It is in seeing this hope that I’m assured that our communities will get better and rebuild,” she stated.
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Barger and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stated they each have been engaged in communication with high-level officers within the incoming administration, rejecting solutions from a reporter who claimed there was any animosity.
