California officials propose making looting during emergency a felony

California officials are proposing making looting during a local emergency a felony, as wildfires continue to blaze through parts of their state, leaving barren neighborhoods susceptible to such crime.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer on Monday called on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to amend further the special legislative session to pass legislation making the crime during a local emergency punishable by a state prison sentence and a strike under the state’s Three Strikes Law.

“In the darkest hours of the darkest days of their lives, while bodies are still sitting in graves of ash, criminals are circling like vultures they are to pick through the ashes looking to steal anything of value,” Spitzer said in a statement, adding that “we must demand accountability, and we must demand punishment, for those who are seizing the opportunity to plunder what little remains.”

The proposal would also create a new felony offense of “trespass with intent to commit larceny” and require that that anyone arrested for looting go before a judge rather than be “cited and released,” which, according to Hochman and Spitzer, current law allows.

The law would also add years to felonies committed during a local emergency, and it would make looting ineligible for diversion so that the defendants could not “have their crimes erased from their record as if the arrest never occurred,” the district attorneys wrote in the press release.

“There is a special place in jail for those who exploit the vulnerable in the wake of deadly fires,” Hochman said. “As hundreds of thousands of families face the unimaginable anguish of fleeing their homes, uncertain whether they’ll ever return, the last thing they should fear is the added trauma of criminals preying on their misfortune.”

“Opportunistic burglars and looters who target fire victims in their time of crisis are not only breaking the law — they are further deepening the suffering of those already facing unimaginable loss,” he continued. “These criminals deserve the harshest penalties, and current laws simply do not go far enough to ensure they are held fully accountable."

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna warned at a press conference on Monday of the possibility of looting once residents return to their homes.

As he urged Californians to be “patient with us” as evacuation orders and curfews remained in effect, Luna said, "There is a lot of hazards in the area, still. The area has not been rendered safe.”

“We have the potential of crime scenes,” he added. “I'm not saying that's what it is. I'm just saying we have to think ahead, because we can't go back from that. So please be patient with us.”

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