Several homes in Southern California wildfire zones have been left empty as residents have been forced to flee the looming fires. Now, several people have been arrested in the empty neighborhoods. Authorities said one couple had items that would help them carry out burglaries — as well as, bizarrely, wild opossums.
Arrests were made Wednesday in areas under evacuation orders near the Line and Bridge fires.
A patrol unit attempted to stop an off-road vehicle on State Route 18 in Running Springs, a community besieged by the Line Fire, at 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities said the two men in the vehicle, Robert Jones and Jose Valdez-Roque, abandoned it shortly afterward and were found near Deep Creek Drive and State Route 18.
Jones and Valdez-Roque were arrested and booked into the West Valley Detention Center on charges of unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area.
The communities of Running Springs, like others such as Arrowbear Lake and Green Valley Lake, are under mandatory evacuation orders due to the Line Fire, which began Sept. 5 in San Bernardino County. The fire has since grown to more than 36,000 acres and is 18% contained.
A 34-year-old man suspected of starting the fire was arrested Tuesday night in Norco. The suspect, Justin Wayne Halstenberg, who is a contracted delivery driver for FedEx, is being held without bond at the West Valley Detention Center.
Another couple was arrested later that morning at North Mountain and North Euclid avenues in the San Antonio Heights community, which is under an evacuation warning due to the bridge fire.
Vincent Olivas, 32, and Melissa Segura, 23, were arrested on suspicion of drug possession, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Officials said the pair was also found to be in possession of items to aid in the robbery and several wild opossums. The animals were unharmed and released back into the wild, according to KTLA.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department could not be reached for comment.
The Bridge Fire broke out Sunday in the Angeles National Forest northeast of Glendora and has since burned more than 50,000 acres with 0% containment.
