Four alleged looters charged in Florida following Hurricane Ian

4 Floridians have been arrested and charged with looting within the aftermath of Hurricane Ian as a whole bunch of hundreds of residents and enterprise homeowners within the Sunshine State look to get better from the crippling storm.

Omar Mejia Ortiz, 33, Valerie Celeste Salcedo Mena, 26, Brandon Mauricio Araya, 20, and Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya, additionally 20, have been all arrested Thursday by Lee County sheriff’s deputies on costs of housebreaking of an unoccupied construction throughout a state of emergency, jails information point out.

Brandon Araya and Steve Araya, in addition to Mena, have been additionally charged with grand larceny. Ortiz was hit with a petit larceny cost.

The 4 have been arrested a day earlier than a video emerged of 5 people sitting handcuffed for looting in a devastated part of Fort Myers, although it’s unclear if any of the 4 suspects charged with looting are within the video.

Looter warning pray painted on a car.
As Floridians start to rebuild their communities, residents round Florida have made it clear they'll defend what property they've left following Hurricane Ian.
Getty Photos

Florida officers, together with Gov. Ron DeSantis, have warned in opposition to ransacking empty properties and companies following the Class 4 storm that brought on billions of dollars in damages.

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Omar Mejia Ortiz

Omar Mejia Ortiz.
Valerie Celeste Salcedo Mena

Valerie Celeste Salcedo Mena.
Brandon Mauricio Araya

Brandon Mauricio Araya.
Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya

Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya.

“Don’t even take into consideration looting. Don’t even take into consideration benefiting from individuals on this weak state of affairs. And so native regulation enforcement is concerned in monitoring that,” DeSantis stated throughout a Friday information convention.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno beforehand instructed would-be looters they'd “higher suppose twice.”

“After I say zero tolerance, zero tolerance means we are going to hunt you down, observe you down, and also you’re going to jail. In the event you’re fortunate,” he stated.

The 4 accused looters have been all launched from jail on Saturday after posting $35,000 bond, jail information point out.

The dying toll continues to climb from the punishing winds and heavy rainfall Hurricane Ian introduced final week.

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