FIRST ON FOX: 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.
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“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.
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Hochman issued a warning to others “contemplating similar acts,” vowing individuals would be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Armed homeowners in some neighborhoods impacted by the fires have taken matters into their own hands to defend homes that have not been destroyed.
Newsom’s public call comes after Hochman and District Attorney Todd Spitzer, of neighboring Orange County, teamed up on Tuesday to ask the governor to make looting a felony. Newsom has come under fire recently for his handling of the crisis from celebrities and lawmakers alike.
Hochman and Spitzer’s proposal seeks to reclassify looting as a straight felony, requiring a state prison sentence rather than a county jail term, as is currently the case.
The Los Angeles wildfires have killed two dozen people, and that number is expected to rise as authorities continue containment efforts.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Spitzer and Hochman for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
