PD Editorial: Looters add to Valley fire victims’ misery

W.C. Fields was one of America’s great humorists, but he was dead serious when he told an interviewer, “There is nothing more contemptible than a thief.”

Fields was talking about his own wayward youth, but his sentiment rings true as residents of fire-ravaged Lake County return to find their homes looted.

With firefighters still mopping up, authorities are working to tally crimes committed as one of the worst wildfires in California history burned more than 1,200 homes and uprooted entire communities for as long as two weeks.

The Valley fire started Sept. 12, and looting reports quickly followed evacuation orders. Deputies arrested one man wearing a yellow rain jacket and a CHP cap and another driving a stolen vehicle spray painted to resemble a police car.

Altogether, Lake County authorities say they have taken 14 burglary reports and arrested six people suspected of looting or plotting to break into evacuated homes.

Sheriff Brian Martin ordered stepped-up patrols, but deputies couldn’t keep a constant watch on thousands of evacuated homes in the enormous fire zone, and opportunistic thieves took advantage of the situation.

Mario Uribe is one of the unlucky residents.

Returning after two weeks staying first in a hotel and later with friends, Uribe was relieved to find his Cobb Mountain home standing. Relief became rage when he went inside and discovered that his house, spared by the fire, had been ransacked by looters.

His landscaping business files had been rifled, and cash and tools were stolen.

“I would have been happier if my house burned down because I wouldn’t have felt so violated,” Uribe told Staff Writer Derek Moore.

With cleanup efforts getting started, emergency service officials are warning about another kind of looting: scammers posing as federal disaster aid workers or licensed contractors. Don’t get burned: always ask for credentials and be skeptical of deals that sound too good to be true.

There isn’t a good time to be victimized.

But it seems especially callous to target people chased from their homes by a wildfire.

The looting reports from Lake County’s fire zone bring to mind another heartless crime that followed a local tragedy.

Six years ago, a Sonoma couple and their two young children, returning home from a family vacation, were killed by a speeding driver who ran a red light on Highway 37. Three days later, burglars ransacked the family’s home, a crime that layered outrage on top of grief.

Lake County authorities?have identified six looting suspects: David Michael Cesari of San Francisco, Dyami Gene Connell of Brisbane, Jeremiah Patrick McGinnis of Cobb, Michael James Jimenez of Brisbane, Royce Sterling Moore of Lakeport and Steven Fredrick Worley of Whispering Pines.

These defendants are entitled to their day in court. Likewise, Uribe and the other victims are entitled to justice, and police and prosecutors should give top priority to cases involving people who apparently look at a crisis and see an opportunity - to steal.