People forced to flee their homes by massive wildfires tearing through Los Angeles were taking turns to patrol their streets to ward off looters on Thursday.
At least 20 people have been arrested in the aftermath of massive fires that have razed whole neighborhoods, officials said.
Police warned that officers were flooding the affected areas and would challenge anyone they thought should not be there.
With such a huge area scorched by the fires, which are ravaging the well-to-do Pacific Palisades and another area around Altadena, evacuees feared not enough was being done.
Some are taking matters into their own hands.
One man whose house was one of just a handful left standing on a burned-out Altadena street told AFP said he was working with his neighbors.
"We're so stressed about this looting happening all around that my neighbors were on watch all last night for several houses in the neighborhood," said the man, who did not want to give his name. "I'm supposed to take over for them tonight."
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his officers were pushing into fire-wrecked areas and evacuation zones to try to deter wrongdoers.
"We continue to conduct roving patrols, manning hard road closures, providing security in evacuation areas to prevent anyone who may be tempted to engage in criminal... behavior like looting," he told a press conference on Thursday.
He said the bar for arresting people in an evacuation zone was low, and warned that his officers would pounce.
"When we have an evacuation order by law, if you remain in that area, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony," he said. "If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject to arrest."
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said anyone the sheriff's department handed over to his office would be dealt with severely.
"If you want to go ahead and loot, if you want to commit burglary, if you want to engage in grand theft... you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law," he said.
Hochman said no one should think that taking property from an evacuation zone was a small matter.
"It's a huge deal. These acts are despicable, and we will prosecute them with maximal punishment."
© 2025 AFP
25 Comments
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Fighto!
EVERY scumbag looter caught in the act should be shot first, and questioned later.
I'm no gun advocate, but in situations like this they can be put to good use.
Hawk
No, they should be taken into custody, charged, tried and sentenced.
To defend life and property, yes. Summary execution, no.
wallace
Where are the National Guard?
Wasabi
The USA is not a safe country and it is getting worst and worst.
Speed
I remember during the Rodney King riots in LA having lots of looters. My buddy's brothers and dad sat on top of their store with a rifle and handguns warning away thieves. They were in Torrance so not even in the middle of the riots but looters were going hogwild nearby too.
I've also noticed a lot of people having an unsympathetic attitude toward the Palisades and Malibu destruction by many people since they are owned by the very wealthy. The disenchantmet of the income gap between the have and have-nots is real and growing.
I must say that I'm impressed with the very low number of looters during disasters here in Japan and you know we have a lot of them. There are some looters but not nearly as many as there are in the US and many other places.
Ricky Kaminski13
Watching in disbelief some of these apocalyptic like scenes coming out of California, and now the news of looters taking advantage of the misery. Lot of anger and question already being asked, especially by the rich folk who have until now been relatively shielded from many of the social issues and problems affecting their state. Easy to want to point fingers when tragedy strikes, but it looks like there’s been some serious ball drops and mismanagement.
Watch them get even more frustrated when they try to rebuild and have to navigate the quagmire of rules and regulations set by the woke California bureaucracy. Americas going through some high speed revaluations and reevaluations.
All that aside though, heart goes out to those that just lost everything. Must be a horrible feeling.
deanzaZZR
Why are you always like this? Are you a USA citizen? If so you should know that USA law does not work like this and thankfully so.
MilesTeg
People still talk in admiration of armed, rooftop Koreans who had to defend their property and businesses themselves because the cops were nowhere in sight.
Considering the huge numbers of LA homeless and the Hollywood elite who care nothing about them yet demand donations from regular folk the way Oprah and the Rock did during the Maui wildfires and where they have luxury homes, the lack of sympathy is understandable.
But the threat and level of looting is crazy.
Legrande
Of course there's going to be resentment when the police can only be bothered when the property of the wealthy is at stake.
OssanAmerica
What amazes me is how looting follows every major natural disaster in the U.S., while Japan which seems to have natural disasters on subscription, never seems to suffer from looting.
Fighto!
Good point. The US has a crime rate magnitudes bigger than Japan at all times - disaster or not. Sadly, disasters seem to bring out the dregs of their society.
I remember watching the LA riots in horror on the news in the early 90s and sympathising with Korean-Americans protecting their businesses from looters and street trash.
bass4funk
Depends on where you live.
I agree.
Hawk
Somewhat targeted looting, considering the shooting in the back of the head of an unarmed black 15-year-old girl for allegedly stealing a $2 bottle of orange juice from a Korean owned store, and the subsequent probationary sentence.
Still, two wrongs don't make a right.
TokyoLiving
Worst and worst, and wait for Trump's end of democracy
ALL the country is a living nightmare..
TokyoLiving
Savage thirdworldish mentality..
WoodyLee
" Some are taking matters into their own hands."
ABSOLUTLY, get that 12 gage lubricated and loaded bcz. it is the only Deterrence.
TokyoLiving
Japan is first world compared to US..
Hawk
It's really not.
MilesTeg
There were lot of factors involved. The girl put the drink in her backpack. The 50yrs old woman working the store alone naturally assumed she was stealing as shoplifting and other incidents occurred often. The woman grabbed the bag of the girl which was a mistake. The girl who was much bigger and stronger, punched the woman twice and tried to leave the store which was a mistake. The woman shot the girl in the back of the head. The biggest mistake.
The Korean community and the black community in that LA area are as different as you can get. One side is law-abiding, hard working, family focused, and extol education. They're also hardened people who have lived through war and almost all men have undergone mandatory military training. They could never rely on the police for protection.
Little has changed. There's a shoplifting epidemic in the US forcing many retailers to close. In CA, shoplifting is now a felony because it's so out of control.
Hawk
MilesTeg,
As stated, fault on all sides, however, the girl had her money in her hand and was still in the store. No crime had been committed until the store owner's escalation. The sentence of five years probation, reduced from 10 years in prison, so soon after the King acquital- seeing a pattern? - doesn't excuse the rioting and looting, but certainly contributed.
And I can't speak to the differences of the community, beyond saying there are exceptions to every rule.
wallace
The scammers have moved in with false GOFUND accounts and false insurance claims.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Because no one looted after the Noto earthquake, right?
toolonggone
Why make absolute statements such as how Japan "never seems to suffer from looting" when it's quite easy to find information to the contrary? If your goal is just to make a comparison, then using factual information should suffice.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15109671
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/women-speak-out-about-sexual-violence-after-great-east-japan-earthquake
https://ssw.umich.edu/stories/53271-gender-based-violence-following-the-2011-great-east-japan-disasters-making-the-invisible-visible-through-research
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-thousands-forced-from-homes-by-quake-face-stress-and-exhaustion-as-japan-mourns-at-least-161-deaths/
Tamarama
Well I think you could very firmly assign this to a culture that strongly emphasizes consideration of the group before yourself, and a pretty firm respect for rules and laws, as opposed to a culture like the US that is the ultimate egocentric and narcissistic version of humanity that we currently have.
Japanese society cops a lot of flack from a certain section of non-Japanese pundits for a range of things, but increasingly this place and it's people stand head and shoulders above many communities for certain values and behaviours which contribute to making it such a good place to live.
Contrast what is going to in LA right now with what went on in 2011 with the Tsunami, when the city of Tokyo shut down after the earthquakes. The experience was one of eerie silence and calm as people quietly walked through the streets and made their journey home in a remarkably orderly fashion.
Night v day.
toolonggone
Yes, I would agree that Japan is a good place to live and in general, orderly and safe.
Why would you contrast it with Tokyo after the tsunami? Buildings in Tokyo were not destroyed. People in Tokyo were not killed in their homes or workplaces or washed out to sea. Yes, people in Tokyo felt the earthquake and many had to walk home but the damaging and deadly effects were in Tohoku. As for what happened after, please see above. While things were mostly smooth there was also a fair amount of opportunistic crime that occured, much of it shamefully underreported. We can acknowledge the good points to Japanese culture & people without overlooking the bad. It doesn't mean you love Japan any less.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15109671