HOT PURSUIT

Alleged Looter Dressed as a Firefighter Busted in L.A.

Officials said 39 people had already been arrested for looting in evacuation zones.

Two alleged looters, one of whom was dressed as a firefighter, were detained in Los Angeles Monday. The pair was stopped by police on the Pacific Coast Highway on the way to Pacific Palisades. One suspect was wore fire boots and a yellow jacket emblazoned with the fire department’s old logo. “I saw them riding up PCH and them up,” photographer Eric Fox told a local outlet. “As I pulled up to the checkpoint to report them, the deputies had already detained them.” The L.A. sheriff’s department, California Highway Patrol and National Guard set up a checkpoint to keep looters out of Malibu and Pacific Palisades, where the devastating Palisades fire has burned through over 20,000 acres of land and killed eight people. Officials said 39 people had already been arrested for looting in evacuation zones. The alleged looters, who rode a scooter and moped, were not identified and it is unclear if they were caught with any stolen property. Officials said that the person dressed as a firefighter was released, but it is unknown what happened to the other suspect.