LA police arrest 2 robbery suspects at Kamala Harris’s home already evacuated
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Two people were arrested early Saturday morning near the Brentwood home of United States Vice President Kamala Harris for violating curfew placed into effect as the Palisades Fire raging nearby has sparked massive looting in other neighbourhoods.
Los Angeles Police Department said officers were dispatched to the area after receiving reports of a burglary. Upon arrival, they didn’t find any evidence that pointed towards such a crime around her home.
However, they did arrest two people who were in violation of a curfew that was placed into effect in evacuation zones near the spot of the fire, according to CBS.
Harris’ neighborhood was placed under an evacuation order as the blaze, which has consumed nearly 24,000 acres and destroyed thousands of structures since its ignition on Tuesday, intensified and turned course towards Mandeville Canyon and the Brentwood area.
“No one was in her home at the time,” said a post on X from Ernie Apreza, Press Secretary to the Vice President.
It’s unclear who made the burglary call to LAPD dispatch.
Prior to the evacuation order, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and other local leaders put a curfew order into effect from sundown to sunrise in places that were impacted by evacuation orders and warnings.
They say the move came in response to threats of looting at unattended homes and to better allow firefighters an adequate space to battle fires.
Mass looting with thieves dressed as firefighters
The Telegraph (UK) reports that at least 20 people have been arrested for looting evacuated homes in Los Angeles, including two people who posed as firefighters, a Los Angeles police captain said as wildfires continue to spread across the city.
“Looting is an issue, the number of arrests is continuously growing,” Capt Mike Lorenz of the Los Angeles Police Department said.
“We even made arrests of two individuals that were actually posing as firefighters coming in and out of houses”.
The two men were arrested outside Kamala Harris’s home in Brentwood, a suburb of west Los Angeles now inside the evacuation zone, were later released with police finding no evidence they had committed a crime.
Some LA residents are hiring private security to help protect their home, per Fox News.
At least 16 people have been killed in the six wildfires simultaneously raging across the city, which have damaged or destroyed up to 12,000 structures and forced 150,000 people to evacuate. Another 13 people are believed to be missing.
Police stopping people from entering Mulholland drive as the Palisades fire continues to burn Credit: GAC / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com
A plane makes a drop as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire at the Mandeville Canyon Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys damage in the Palisades Fire Credit: Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP
Read also:
