Deputies Arrest Looters Found Near Evacuated South Lake Tahoe Homes
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) — Two suspected looters were arrested in evacuated South Lake Tahoe this week.
According to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, deputies from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office who were in the area assisting with the Caldor Fire spotted a man near a home in the area of Spruce Avenue and Heather Lake Avenue. Upon seeing the deputies, the man—a 27-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident—reportedly got into a car and tried to drive away.
Deputies pulled the driver over and determined he had been looting the area. He faces additional charges of failing to leave an evacuation zone, possession of drug paraphernalia, false registration and altering a replica firearm to resemble a real one.
South Lake Tahoe police said deputies also found another man in the backyard of a Herbert Avenue home. That man was arrested on charges of looting, burglary, possession of burglary tools and failing to leave an evacuation zone.
The town has been under mandatory evacuation orders as the Caldor Fire continued to grow and spread through El Dorado County toward the east along Highway 50.
See photos from the arrests below.