Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies arrested two looters Thursday while patrolling the South Lake Tahoe area.
The entire area of South Lake Tahoe was evacuated earlier this week due to the Caldor Fire burning nearby.
Multiple law enforcement agencies on the Central Coast were deployed Wednesday to assist South Lake Tahoe agencies as they work non-stop through the smoke and fire to protect the community.
According to a Facebook post from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office were on a security detail when they spotted looters.
Deputies were patrolling the neighborhood of Spruce Avenue and Heather Lake Avenue when they saw a male subject near a house. Deputies say that when they approached the man got into a vehicle and left. Shortly after deputies pulled the man over for questioning.
Further investigation showed the 28-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident was looting the area. He was arrested for looting, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to leave an evacuation zone, altering a replica firearm to resemble a real firearm, and false registration. They also recovered several items suspected to have been stolen.
Just minutes after that incident, deputies say they found another male in the backyard of a residence on Herbert Ave. That male was also arrested for looting, burglary, possession of burglary tools, and failure to leave an evacuation zone.
The names of the two men have not been released.
In the post, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department expressed their gratitude to all of the agencies stepping in to help assist during this difficult time in Tahoe.
