Newsom calls for robbery to be considered a felony in evacuation zones amid LA’s inferno
FIRST ON FOX: California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for looting in fire evacuation zones to be a felony after prosecutors in Southern California urged him this week to impose tougher penalties, Fox News Digital has learned exclusively.
“Preying on people at their most vulnerable is despicable, these criminals are among the worst kind,” Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday afternoon.
Newsom said “robbery has never been legal here” and “will not be tolerated” as the state continues to battle the predatory inferno that broke out on Jan. 7.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom faced pressure this week from Southern California prosecutors to hand down stiffer sentences for looters and arsonists. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
“And that’s why I enlisted the support of CalGuard and the CHP from the very beginning [California Highway Patrol] to protect vulnerable residents and their property,” Newsom said.
In California, mugging is currently classified as a “wobbler offense,” meaning it can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. However, judges have the power to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, even with the prosecutor’s objection.
So far, Los Angeles County District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman has issued several felony arson charges this week in unrelated cases as firefighters continue to battle the blaze across the region. Fox News Digital previously reported that authorities had arrested at least a dozen people in connection with the robbery and arson.
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A general view of burned residential areas as wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles on January 12, 2025. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hochman issued a warning to others “contemplating similar acts”, vowing that the individuals would be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”. Armed homeowners in some neighborhoods affected by the fires took matters into their own hands to defend the homes that were not destroyed.
Newsom’s public call comes after Hochman and District Attorney Todd Spitzer of neighboring Orange County teamed up Tuesday to ask the governor to make robbery a felony. Newsom has recently come under fire from celebrities and lawmakers alike for his handling of the crisis.
Hochman and Spitzer’s proposal seeks to reclassify robbery as a pure felony, requiring state prison time instead of county jail, as is currently the case.
California Governor Gavin Newsom tours the Pacific Palisades Central Business District on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
The Wildfires in Los Angeles killed about two dozen people, and that number is expected to rise as authorities continue efforts to contain it.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Spitzer and Hochman for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
