Prosecutors charged nine people with looting Monday in areas wrecked by the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, and accused another man of intentionally setting a blaze in an Azusa park during last week’s firestorm.
One trio of men allegedly stole $200,000 worth of valuables from a home in Mandeville Canyon early on the morning of January 9, while another group stole personal property, including an Emmy award, from an Altadena home in the wake of the Eaton Fire, according to L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman.
“Let me be clear: If you exploit this tragedy to prey on victims of these deadly fires, we will find you and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Hochman said.
The charges filed Monday involved three separate alleged looting incidents in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where fires have burned a combined 35,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. At least 25 people have died, but that number is expected to rise.
In one case, authorities said Ring camera footage captured several men moving through a residence on Mandeville Canyon Road, a street lined with multi-million dollar homes that sits at the entrance to a popular hiking trail. Two of them — Matrell Peoples, 22, and Damari Bell, 21 — were charged with looting and residential burglary after they were arrested the next day near a Koreatown apartment, according to Hochman, who said police recovered some of the property stolen at their residence.
A third suspect, 27-year-old Travon Coleman, fled during the attempted arrest and allegedly caused a car crash that injured a bystander, said Hochman. Coleman is charged with committing a hit-and-run. Both he and Peoples could face life sentences under California’s “Three Strikes” law, as they each have two prior violent felony convictions.
Six others — Rudy Salazar, 19, Lucia Jilrara Perez, 36, Roy Sims, 18, Ryan Sims, 19, Naquan Dewey Reddix, 22, and Pierie Obannon, 19 — were charged with residential burglary for stealing from several Altadena homes impacted by the Eaton fire last week, Hochman said.
“Do not go ahead and engage in looting, engage in internet scams, engage in price gouging, do not violate evacuation orders,” Hochman said Monday. “Do not commit any of these crimes in which people are trying to profit from the tragedy.”
Authorities also displayed footage of a fallen tree set aflame in Azusa’s Pioneer Park, just two miles from the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. While the blaze was not connected to any of the wildfires that have devastated L.A. County, Police Chief Rocky Wenrick said the fire could have easily spread in last week’s dangerous wind event.
Jose Gerardo Escobar, 39, has been charged with three counts of arson, Hochman said. Authorities did not say what, if any, motive there was behind the fire.
The Azusa incident marks the second alleged arson incident since the deadly wave of fires hit the Los Angeles area. Last week, Ventura County authorities named 33-year-old Juan Sierra as a “person of interest” in the Kenneth Fire which burned up nearly 1,000 acres near the L.A.-Ventura County line and threatened homes in Calabasas.
Sierra was arrested after residents saw him “attempting to start a fire” in a West Hills neighborhood on the afternoon of Jan. 9th, according to a law enforcement document obtained by The Times. As of Monday afternoon, a case had yet to be presented to Ventura County prosecutors, according to a district attorney’s office spokesman.
Officials have not determined a cause in any of the recent fires, but the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Response Team is investigating.
Under California law, a person is guilty of looting when they commit a burglary in an area that is either subject to a state of emergency or evacuation order due to a natural disaster or riot. With the Los Angeles police and sheriff’s departments reporting nearly 60 combined arrests for looting and curfew violations as of Monday, the number of prosecutions is expected to increase in coming days. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna also said he expects more burglaries to be reported in fire zones as people are allowed back into damaged areas.
Alan Hamilton, the LAPD’s chief of detectives, said several people were arrested over the weekend for posing as firefighters while attempting to enter an evacuation zone. The men were “conspiring to conduct illegal activity including looting in the area” of the Palisades fire, according to Hamilton, who said he expects charges to be presented to the district attorney’s office soon.
Residents and law enforcement leaders have been on high alert about potential looters since the fires began. Last Thursday, Luna and Supervisor Kathryn Barger pointed to looting arrests in the wreckage of the Palisades and Eaton fires as one reason to summon 400 members of the National Guard to L.A. County.
A curfew order has also been put in place in parts of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and Altadena, giving law enforcement the power to arrest anyone in the restricted areas on sight.
Residents in impacted areas have seemed more and more on edge in recent days.
In Kenter Canyon in Brentwood on Saturday, several evacuated homes had signs posted noting that the property was monitored by both surveillance cameras and private security to discourage potential thieves. LAPD cruisers and private security trucks were prevalent in the neighborhood as most other vehicles drove down from the hills.
In Santa Monica, police have chased at least 150 people from evacuation zones adjacent to the Palisades in the past week. and recorded 42 arrests, according to Lt. Erika Aklufi.
Ten of those arrests were for burglary and six were for possessing burglary tools, she said. The remaining arrests were for other violations, including curfew, drug possession, driving violations, outstanding warrants, parole and probation violations. None of those arrested were from Santa Monica, she said.
“We cannot allow people to prey on the devastation that has already happened,” L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath said. “No one should take advantage of residents who have been forced to flee for their safety.”
Times Staff Writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
