Nearly all looters nabbed in Pinellas County, FL, after recent hurricanes were in US illegally

Nearly all of the looters arrested in Pinellas County in Florida after hurricanes Helene and Milton were illegal migrants. 

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office at a press conference Thursday, 41 of the 45 alleged looters out of more than 100 people rounded up on a variety of other charges, including armed robbery, burglary, loitering, grant theft, vandalism and trespassing charges following the two deadly storms are in the U.S. illegally, Fox News said in a report.

Another 58 people have been scamming hurricane victims out of about $250 million for repairs that never got done, and were likely never intended to be done. 

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri's office added that another 196 people were caught under suspicious circumstances, questioned by deputies but then released for lack of probable cause. Of those people, 163 were found to be in the U.S. illegally.

“Our effort to protect the community has not stopped with these hurricanes’ direct impact,” the sheriff said in a statement. “We are now focused on protecting our residents and our businesses who are desperate to rebuild and get on with their lives.”

You can watch Sheriff Gualtieri’s 11-minute press conference here.