A looter dressed up as a firefighter to break into a house in Malibu, a city affected by the fires raging around Los Angeles, police said on Sunday.
The suspected thief is among about 20 people arrested as fires ravage Los Angeles and surrounding areas since Tuesday, and more than 100,000 people remain evacuated, raising questions about security in these areas.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his deputies arrested the man in the Palisades fire evacuation zone, which extends west to the popular beach town of Malibu.
“I saw a man who looked like a firefighter, and I asked him if he was okay because he was sitting on the ground,” Luna said at a press conference.
“I didn’t realize he was handcuffed. We took him [au Département de police de Los Angeles] because he was dressed like a fireman, but he wasn’t one.”
“He had just been caught burglarizing a house,” Luna added.
A curfew is in effect in the disaster areas of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, ravaged by the flames of fires which have killed more than 16 people and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings since Tuesday.
The authorities insisted that anyone caught in the evacuation zones between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. would be arrested.
World
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