There’s Been a Post-Hurricane Surge of Looters in One County in Florida, and a Good Portion of Them Are Migrants
Nearly half of those arrested during an anti-looting operation in Pinellas County had illegally entered the country from Central and South America.
Among the looters rounded up in one Florida county in the wake of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, nearly half were illegal immigrants.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says that deputies have rounded up 100 suspects, and of them 41 were found to be undocumented migrants who committed everything from vandalism to armed robbery, according to Fox News.
“They’re going into people’s homes, they’re taking stuff, they’re rummaging through their things,” Sheriff Gualtieri said during a press conference. “As the Pinellas beaches recover, we are going to continue these patrols and arrest everyone we can who is stealing from the vulnerable victims of two back-to-back storms that have devastated our community.”
Nearly all of those arrested during a three-week operation by PCSO’s looting patrols originated from Central and South America. More than 100 people were arrested during the sting, and nearly all had extensive criminal records. Another 196 people were found in neighborhoods where they did not live but were not arrested due to a lack of probable cause.
“So, we contacted them and told them to get out,” Sheriff 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 just here to steal and to pilfer and to do bad things and to target these vulnerable people.”
Among those rounded up by deputies were 58 unlicensed contractors who bilked residents in Pinellas County out of $250 million for repairs and renovations that they never intended to complete after being paid.
“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,” Sheriff Gualtieri said, adding that one suspected had even printed up fake business cards as part of an elaborate scam.
“People offering to do work on their property, but, in some cases, have no intention of doing the work. In other cases, are unqualified to do the work and, in all of these cases, are unlicensed to do the work,” he said.
