- Houston Police Chief Art Avacedo says just four people have been arrested for looting during Hurricane Harvey
- That’s a change from the widespread looting that happened during Hurricane Katrina, a similar natural disaster
- On Sunday, a Facebook user posted a video showing two men stealing TVs from a Metro PCS store
- There were scattered posts on Twitter from people claiming to be out looting
Just four people have been arrested for looting in Houston during Hurricane Harvey so far, Police Chief Art Acevedo said Monday.
Acevedo said that during such disasters, people come into cities for the express reason of looting.
He added that police officers from around the state were coming in to assist his overworked officers.
Just four people have been arrested for looting during Hurricane Harvey. Above, law-abiding citizens wait in line to get supplies from a Houston grocery store on Sunday
‘We’ve already arrested a handful of looters. We’ve made it real clear to our community we’re going to do whatever it takes to protect their homes and their businesses,’ Acevedo told ABC News. ‘And when people come from the outside to Houston, Texas, know we’re going to be out in the city, we’re not going to rest as a police department or law enforcement community until people restore their lives.’
Acevedo’s statement tempered some previous reports that there had been widespread looting.
So far, it appears that the looting in Houston is minimal and nowhere near comparable to the thefts that took place during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
During that disaster, an issue was ordered for looters to be shot, even though a lot of the looting that took place was by people desperate for food, water, medicine and baby supplies.
On Sunday, a Facebook user posted a video showing two men stealing flatscreen TVs from a Metro PCS in Houston.
There were also scattered posts on Twitter from people claiming to be looters, including pictures of ‘stolen’ electronics and selfies of bandanna masked men.