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Almost all suspects in hurricane robberies are illegal immigrants: Sheriff
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Almost all suspects in hurricane robberies are illegal immigrants: Sheriff

Almost all of the heartless looters caught in one Florida county in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton were illegal immigrants, according to local authorities.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said this weekend that 41 of the 45 alleged looters arrested on armed robbery, burglary, loitering, subsidy theft, vandalism and trespassing charges following the two deadly storms are in the U.S. illegally , Fox News said in a report.

The sheriff’s office also said another 196 people were caught in the area under suspicious circumstances and questioned by deputies, but had to be released due to a lack of probable cause — 163 of those individuals were found to be in the U.S. illegally.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said most of the robberies turned on the cops after Helene and Milton were illegal immigrants. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
Florida residents were ordered to evacuate on the eve of two massive hurricanes — and looters were waiting. Ernst Peters/The Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

“Many of these people were in the area to take other people’s property, and our efforts have prevented other crimes,” said Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Bob Gualtieri said at a press conference.

“As Pinellas beaches recover, we were going to continue these patrols and arrest everyone we can who is stealing from the vulnerable between two back-to-back storms that devastated our community.”

The two massive storms hit the Florida coast earlier this month in back-to-back disasters, causing millions of dollars in damage and killing more than a dozen people in Pinellas County alone.

Gualtieri said 80 additional deputies have been deployed to areas of the county where residents have been ordered to evacuate to keep the community safe.

Besides the looters, another 58 people were accused of fraud victims of the hurricane out of about $250 million for repairs they never made—and in most cases intended to make.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Florida in back-to-back disasters, killing at least 12 in Pinellas County alone. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office/UPI/Shutterstock
Authorities in Pinellas County say 45 people have been charged with looting after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. James Keivom

It is not clear if any of them were migrants.

“Our effort to protect the community did not stop with the direct impact of these hurricanes,” the sheriff said in a statement. “We are now focused on protecting our residents and our businesses who are desperate to rebuild and get on with their lives.”