LOS ANGELES (CNS) – State lawmakers and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced proposed legislation Monday aimed at toughening penalties for looters and others who would take advantage of property owners in fire zones.
The bill, AB 469, has bipartisan support in Sacramento and would make it a felony that could send unscrupulous scammers to longer prison terms, backers said.
“We sent a message from the very beginning to the would-be looters, the arsonists, the people who would by impersonating firefighters, the price- gougers and the financial scammers,” said Hochman, who was joined by Sheriff Robert Luna and other elected officials at a news conference at the Hall of Justice. “The question was not if, but when they would be arrested, then prosecuted, then punished to the maximum extent of the law, but when we turned to the law of looting, it turns out when we pulled open the penal code, we saw the law of looting was actually underwhelming.”
The bill, which would make looting a felony instead of a misdemeanor and increase possible prison sentences to four years instead of one, comes as law enforcement agencies report elaborate attempts to take advantage of victims in the Palisade and Eaton fire disaster zones, including impersonating first responders and the use of fake fire department vehicles.
The devastating January wildfires have led to more than two dozen arrests of people accused of looting in fire zones, with some allegedly impersonating firefighters to avoid law enforcement.
“We cannot and we will not tolerate behavior that endangers the public or puts our brave first responders at risk,” said Assemblyman John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, who introduced the legislation. . “Together we are working across party line sand across levels of government.”
According to Hochman, the proposed legislation would:
— allowing prosecutors to seek stronger penalties for looting;
— allow prosecutors to seek stronger penalties for impersonating emergency personnel, including peace officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, US Armed Forces, California National Guard, utility workers, and government officials;
— close existing loopholes to better protect damaged structures as well as vehicles in mandatory evacuation zones;
— ensure protections continue beyond the active disaster and through the recovery and rebuilding process; and
— ensuring those who are suspected of looting or impersonating emergency personnel are taken into custody, not just cited and released.
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