Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include new information provided by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office.
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Two men, one of whom was dressed as a firefighter, were detained by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies on Pacific Coast Highway Sunday as authorities worked to contain the devastating Palisades Fire and prevent looting.
It’s unclear exactly what time the men were detained.
A local photographer reportedly spotted the pair on a scooter and a moped, one of whom was dressed in fire boots, jeans and a yellow fire jacket emblazoned with Cal Fire’s old acronym CDF, which stood for California Department of Forestry and Fire, photos of the arrest show.
“I saw them riding up PCH and them up,” Eric Fox told KTLA. “As I pulled up to the checkpoint to report them, the deputies had already detained them.”
Two crime prevention unit deputies from LASD’s Santa Clarita Station assisting with the Palisades Fire detained the men, along with California Highway Patrol officers and California National Guardsmen, who were all manning the checkpoint along PCH.
Photos shared by authorities showed the two men in handcuffs, sitting on the sidewalk just outside the Getty Villa at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway as deputies searched them.
No information was provided on the alleged looters’ identities or if they were caught with any stolen property.
KTLA later confirmed with law enforcement that “following the officers’ investigation, the individual in the photo wearing the CDF jacket was not booked or charged with any criminal activity.”
Approximately 50 miles away in Irwindale, firefighters battling a small brush fire near Rivergrade Road and the 605 Freeway spotted an alleged arsonist starting fires. The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Baldwin Park resident Ruben Montes, was taken into custody by police.
