Eight people have been arrested for looting homes evacuated in the California wildfires.
The heartless suspects were found sniffing around the few remaining possessions of those hit by the brutal Camp Fire in Butte County.
Police released mugshots of six suspects on Wednesday as a warning to other potential looters that raiding wildfire victims’ properties would not be tolerated.
Authorities have released photos of people arrested on suspicion of looting communities ravaged by the California wildfires. Pictured: Shayne Tinnel Jr (left) and Tracey Sizer (right) were arrested Tuesday for stealing a motorhome from someone who had evacuated the area
Deputies found Teddy King, 27, (left) and John Brown, 38, (right), in an evacuated area west of Paradise on Tuesday. They were allegedly carrying a stolen laptop, a ski mask, and drugs
Jason Burns, 41, (left) and Michael Salisbury, 48, (right) were found hiding in the bedroom of a home in Paradise with a stash of meth, heroin, a stolen .45-caliber handgun, and loaded magazines on Monday. A PG& E worker had spotted them and alerted deputies
A couple from the town of Magalia, Shayne Tinnel Jr, and Tracey Sizer took off with someone else’s motorhome after the owner had evacuated, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s office.
Tinnel Jr, 22, was at the wheel of the vehicle, and Sizer, 42, was sitting inside when police stopped them on Tuesday and took them into custody.
Both suspects have been charged with vehicle theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, and looting.
Also on Tuesday, deputies came across two men, Teddy King, 27, of Paradise, and John Brown, 38, of Oroville, on a bike path in an evacuated area west of Paradise, a town reduced to rubble by the deadly blaze.
The men were carrying a laptop that didn’t belong to them, a ski mask, drugs, and drug paraphernalia, according to deputies. Both have been booked into Butte County Jail on drug charges.
Earlier this week an employee with the power company PG&E, whose electrical lines may have caused the fire, spotted two men who looked like they were looting and alerted deputies.
Jason Burns, 41, and Michael Salisbury, 48, were found hiding in the bedroom of a home in Paradise with a stash of meth, heroin, a stolen .45-caliber handgun and loaded magazines on Monday.
In the garage, deputies found an AR-15 rifle, several chainsaws, and other tools that they suspected were stolen. Burns and Salisbury are facing a number of charges and are being held on $89,000 bail.
Police said Burns was related to the owners of the home, but that the relatives said they did not know he had returned to the residence after evacuating.
On Sunday, two men dressed in jackets similar to the ones worn by US Forest Service workers were arrested for looting in Paradise. Their names have not been released.
Pink’s husband Carey Hart encouraged fellow victims of the California wildfires to defend their properties from looters by exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms in a threatening Instagram post on Tuesday morning (pictured)
Butte County Sheriff Kory L Honea announced there had already been 53 reports of looting in the area as of Saturday afternoon. It is unclear what the number of reported incidents has risen to.
Many are calling for a tough clampdown on looters who are taking advantage of the hardest hit.
Pink’s husband Carey Hart posted a warning photo to wannabe crooks on Tuesday.
Posing up alongside other armed residents of Malibu, the former professional motocross competitor urged other residents to utilize the second amendment to defend their properties.
‘There have been sightings of looters breaking into homes. Well, if you are a looter, think twice if you are heading back into Malibu (sic). #DefendYourLand #2ndamendment,’ he wrote.
Large parts of Malibu have been evacuated by the Woolsey fire, a separate blaze burning 500 miles south of the Camp Fire.
Coroner and rescue teams are surveying the fire damage in Paradise, a town of 27,000 people
Chris and Nancy Brown stand in the rubble of their decimated home in Paradise on Monday
The Camp Fire ignited Thursday morning and ripped through Butte County at an alarming speed, destroying an estimated 7,600 homes in a matter of 24 hours
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