Roughly 29 folks have been arrested in Los Angeles thus far in connection to felony exercise associated to the continuing wildfires, together with a housebreaking suspect who allegedly tried to disguise himself as a firefighter, officers mentioned Sunday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna mentioned 25 of these arrested had been within the space of the Eaton Hearth, whereas 4 others got here from the Palisades Hearth evacuated zone.
“After I was on the market within the Malibu space, I noticed a gentleman that appeared 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’re 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 Division Chief Jim McDonald mentioned one individual was arrested Saturday night time for violating a curfew order within the metropolis, and three others had been arrested the night time earlier than in connection to an alleged housebreaking.
“There have been three people in a car. They had been stopped. They had been the place they weren’t imagined to be. One had on a hearth jacket and a hearth hat. And he was moreover arrested for impersonating a firefighter,” McDonald mentioned. “We’ve 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 Hearth press convention on Jan. 9, 2025, at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif. ( Kirby Lee/Getty Pictures)
The chief warned that the 6 p.m. to six a.m. native time curfew remained in impact from Sunday night time into Monday.
“Until you are a public security personnel or another catastrophe employee, you haven’t any purpose to be at these areas,” McDonald mentioned. “And in case you are in these areas, you may be topic to arrest. Implementing a curfew is a crucial software 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 troublesome situations.”
He additionally mentioned 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 1000’s of acres, and destroyed houses in Los Angeles on Jan. 12, 2024. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu through Getty Pictures)
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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’re all wanting to prosecute anyone who’s profiting from our residents throughout this very troublesome 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 excited about doing,” he mentioned.
On the press convention, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger mentioned she despatched a letter to President-elect Trump inviting him to go to the wildfire devastation.
A view of burned homes and automobiles in Pacific Palisades neighborhood throughout Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 11, 2025. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu through Getty Pictures)
“I look ahead to welcoming President-elect Trump to our communities so he can see the determined want, but in addition the unbelievable alternative, hope and perseverance of our impacted neighbors. It’s in seeing this hope that I’m assured that our communities will recuperate and rebuild,” she mentioned.
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Barger and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass mentioned they each have been engaged in communication with high-level officers within the incoming administration, rejecting recommendations from a reporter who claimed there was any animosity.
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