California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for looting in fire evacuation zones to be a felony after prosecutors in Southern California urged him this week to issue harsher penalties, Fox News Digital has exclusively learned.
“Preying on people at their most vulnerable is despicable, these criminals are among the worst kinds,” Newsom said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday afternoon.
Newsom said “looting has never been legal here” and that “it will not be tolerated” as the state continues to battle the ravenous inferno that broke out on Jan. 7.
“And that’s why I’ve tasked — from the beginning — support from CalGuard and CHP [California Highway Patrol] to protect impacted residents and their property,” Newsom said.
In California, looting is currently classified as a “wobbler offense,” meaning it can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. However, judges have the authority to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, even over prosecutors’ objections.
So far, Los Angeles County’s newly elected tough-on-crime district attorney, Nathan Hochman, has issued several arson felonies this week in unrelated cases as firefighters continue to battle the blaze across the region. Fox News Digital previously reported that authorities have arrested at least a dozen individuals in connection with looting and arson.
