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Nearly all of the suspects arrested in Florida for looting in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton were illegal immigrants, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced over the weekend.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri stated, “Between October 2nd and October 23rd, just in the last 21 days, we’ve arrested 45 people in the Pinellas beach communities on 68 different charges, including armed robbery, burglary, loitering and prowling, grand theft, vandalism, and trespass.”

‘Tough times for everybody.’

“Of the 45 burglars and thieves that we’ve arrested, only two were from Pinellas County,” Gualtieri continued. “The rest came here from out of the area to steal from our residents and businesses.”

Gualtieri noted that 41 of the 45 arrested individuals were illegal aliens from Mexico, Cuba, Columbia, Honduras, Venezuela, and other countries.

The sheriff’s office had contact with another 196 individuals who were caught in the beach neighborhoods under suspicious circumstances and questioned by law enforcement but ultimately released due to lack of probable cause. Of those individuals, 163 were illegal aliens, the department stated.

“They’re going into people’s homes, they’re taking stuff, they’re rummaging through their things,” Gualtieri explained. “This is the epitome of people trying to exploit others when they’re down and when they’re out, and they’re trying to rebuild, and they’ve got nothing.”

Bill Karns, the owner of Saltwater Hippie Beach Bar, told WTSP that he witnessed people trying to loot local businesses, including his own. He noted that the suspects were caught.

“Tough times for everybody, but we can’t have people coming in and taking advantage of our residents,” Karns stated.

Another 58 people were charged with scamming Florida hurricane victims out of $250 million for repairs that they never performed. The suspects offered to complete over 75 projects, including plumbing, roofing, and electrical work.

“People offering to do work on their property, but, in some cases, have no intention of doing the work. In other cases, are unqualified to do the work and, in all of these cases, are unlicensed to do the work,” Gualtieri said.

Nearly all of the arrested individuals had extensive criminal records, Gualtieri stated.

An additional 80 officers were deployed to the hurricane-impacted areas.

“A lot of these people were in the area to take others’ properties, and our efforts prevented additional crimes from occurring,” Gualtieri said. “As the Pinellas beaches recover, we’re gonna continue these patrols and arrest everyone we can who is stealing from the vulnerable of two back-to-back storms that have devastated our community.”

Many of the businesses in Madeira Beach remain closed, and some are still boarded up following the hurricanes, WTVT reported.

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