| Submit your comments on this article | |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- | |
| Deputies in Pinellas County, FL say they've arrested 45 people for looting in the weeks after Hurricanes Helene & Milton. 41 of them are noncitizens. | |
| 2024-10-27 | |
[X]
[FoxNews] Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the suspects are facing numerous charges, including armed robbery and grand theft. More than 100 people, including at least 41 illegal immigrants, have been arrested in Florida for allegedly looting and scamming victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton, local law enforcement officials said. Looting patrols in Pinellas County over the last three weeks rounded up 45 suspects on 68 charges that included armed robbery, burglary, loitering and prowling, grand theft, vandalism and trespassing, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. "They’re going into people's homes, they’re taking stuff, they’re rummaging through their things," Gualtieri said. Another 58 suspects were arrested in an operation allegedly targeting unlicensed contractors. Gualtieri said their scams mostly involved billing victims a total of $250 million for repairs they never intended to do. "This is the epitome of people trying to exploit others when they’re down and when they’re out, and they’re trying to rebuild and they’ve got nothing," Gualtieri said. Of the 45 suspects arrested by anti-looting patrols across the Pinellas County barrier islands, at least 41 of the suspects are illegal immigrants, Gualtieri said at a press conference Thursday. He said nearly all of the suspects were from South America or Central America. The sheriff added that his office had contact with 196 other individuals who were in beach neighborhoods where they did not belong, but that officers did not have probable cause to arrest them. Of those, 163 were found to be illegal immigrants, he said. "So, we made contact with them and told them to get out," Gualtieri said. "We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before. We’ve never seen this influx of people from out of the area that are clearly just here to steal and to pilfer and to do bad things and to target these vulnerable people." Gualtieri said nearly all of those arrested during the three-week operation had extensive criminal records. Related: Pinellas County: 2024-08-25 Like a scorpion its in their nature Pinellas County: 2024-02-01 Naked customer allegedly threatens convenience store staff with veggie peeler, masturbates in front of cops Pinellas County: 2023-12-28 Florida man shot by homeowner after allegedly attacking his wife then trying to break into second home, according to witnesses | |
| Posted by:Frank G |