Posted on 08/30/2017 12:20:02 AM PDT by Bullish
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he is not going to tolerate criminals taking advantage of people in the community during such a devastating time.
NOTE: The city of Houston has announced a curfew from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew remains in effect until further notice and exempts those seeking shelter, flood relief volunteers, first responders and those going to and from work.
He said his officers arrested 14 alleged looters since Sunday.
Those arrested will face stiffer punishments under a Texas law providing heftier penalties during a crisis, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
"People displaced or harmed in this storm are not going to be easy prey," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
Burglarizing a home would normally bring a penalty of two to 20 years in prison, but now brings five years to life. "This is the state of Texas. We are a welcoming city, but we are not going to tolerate people victimizing others," Acevedo said.
He said he will push for the fullest prosecution possible for any crimes committed during such a sensitive time.
Acevedo said his officers arrested a crew of people with guns robbing members of our community Monday night. They found them after a pursuit and took them into custody. He said officers also caught three looters at a Game Stop Monday night. ABC News Anchor Tom Llamas shared a photo on Twitter just after 11:30 a.m. of a looting situation happening in the Houston area where the Coast Guard is flying overhead.
We informed police of the looting and Coast Guard is flying overhead. Multiple officers now on the scene. pic.twitter.com/OsVVNF1M06 — Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) August 29, 2017
Houston police catch 14 armed robbers and looters amid flood emergency Email EMBED More Videos
Houston police chief not going to tolerate criminals taking advantage of flood victims. (KTRK) Tuesday, August 29, 2017 07:42PM HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he is not going to tolerate criminals taking advantage of people in the community during such a devastating time.
NOTE: The city of Houston has announced a curfew from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew remains in effect until further notice and exempts those seeking shelter, flood relief volunteers, first responders and those going to and from work.
He said his officers arrested 14 alleged looters since Sunday.
Those arrested will face stiffer punishments under a Texas law providing heftier penalties during a crisis, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
"People displaced or harmed in this storm are not going to be easy prey," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
Burglarizing a home would normally bring a penalty of two to 20 years in prison, but now brings five years to life. "This is the state of Texas. We are a welcoming city, but we are not going to tolerate people victimizing others," Acevedo said.
He said he will push for the fullest prosecution possible for any crimes committed during such a sensitive time.
Acevedo said his officers arrested a crew of people with guns robbing members of our community Monday night. They found them after a pursuit and took them into custody. He said officers also caught three looters at a Game Stop Monday night. ABC News Anchor Tom Llamas shared a photo on Twitter just after 11:30 a.m. of a looting situation happening in the Houston area where the Coast Guard is flying overhead.
We informed police of the looting and Coast Guard is flying overhead. Multiple officers now on the scene. pic.twitter.com/OsVVNF1M06 — Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) August 29, 2017
And according to a tweet from The Venture, looters shot at a flooded Apple Store in Houston overnight.
The owner of the Bronze Bar in Houston also shared a photo of her business with smashed windows writing, "My business that I've worked hard for was looted last night. I can't believe people are capable of this."
Acevedo, again, strongly reiterated that this type of act is not tolerated in the city of Houston.
"Don't come to Houston because you're going to be caught," Acevedo said. "That's despicable behavior."
So he’s implying that the criminals are from out of town?
Not impossible, but thinking all of Houston is not up standing Citizens
Roughly 250,000 are former New Orleans residents, who made the decision after Katrina to never return.
I’m sure they have plenty of local scumbags, but maybe he likes to make it sound like only “outsiders” would do such nefarious stuff in the midst of this huge emergency.
The ABC news guy tweeted about seeing masked, armed looters and was catching grief on Twitter from vile Lefturds who considered it “snitching” to report looters to the police. Yes, that is what some self-important supposedly enlightened people in our country have descended to, reporting crime is “snitching” — the ghetto cultcha.
Houston is plagued by the same problem all big cities in America are. Too many low income minorities on welfare with too much time on their hands.
An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
it’s idle hands
You say it your way... I’ll stick to mine. It actually makes a lot more sense my way.
it does make more sense your way, but the saying is ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop”
Should be 14 dead looters. Need to stop looting by shooting looters. Make it clear such behavior is not tolerated.
I'd be down with that. That's a good way to prove there are bad consequences for criminal behavior.
The way I say it is the way I learned it from a pastor decades ago. I think the saying is spot on my way and you have yours wrong, but who cares?
It’s a very old saying and there’s probably no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to put it.
Yes, there is a right way to say it: Idle hands are the Devil’s playthings.
oh yuck I hate that phrase “spot on”, dorky British phrase
Nicely done!
Hey these looters are just being good Alinskyite Democrats.
Never let a crisis go to waste.
They are just good Democrats taking the opportunity to redistribute wealth.
Summary executions should be authorized in these cases.
You loot we shoot.
My neighbors and I were patrolling our neighborhood watching homes of people who had evacuated (about 90% of my neighbors left)
What a nitpicker.
NOLA Katrina transplants???
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