Houston police have had enough on their hands rescuing survivors and recovering the remains of the victims of Hurricane Harvey, which as of last night numbered 31. Among those who perished in the floods left by the storm was one of HPD’s own: Officer Steve Perez, a 34-year-old veteran of the department drowned while trying to save the lives of others.
One especially heart-wrenching rescue was that an 18-month-old toddler who rescuers found clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal.
With all the mayhem and the still-palpable danger, the last thing Houston police needed was to divert their attention from the awesome task at hand to deal with looters who opened fire on firefighters as they were themselves conducting search and rescue operations Monday.
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The mere fact that there are people low enough to loot in the midst of a major disaster boggles the mind.
Officer Joe Gamaldi told The Daily Caller News Foundation:
We had firefighters out there helping people, and looters started firing on them. We sent officers down there on a code 1 [which means as fast as you can] to assist, and they too came under fire.
Gamaldi told TheDCNF that the incident occurred at the intersection of Tidwell and Mesa, just north of the downtown area. The officer added that no one was injured in the incident, which occurred Monday afternoon.
“This was absolutely the most despicable and disgusting thing that you could imagine,” he said. “That our officers had to stop what they were doing, high water rescues and saving lives, to deal with looters firing at our officers and firefighters.”
He had a message to looters: “If you are caught, you will go to jail and there will be severe consequences.”
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon made it clear that looters would be jailed and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Ligon announced Monday that his office will seek prison or jail time in each and every forthcoming case where the defendant stands charged with theft (looting), burglary, robbery, or any similar crime committed during recovery efforts.
“Leniency and probation will be off the table for these offenses committed during this time,” Ligon said. State law allows for enhanced punishment for certain crimes committed during a declared natural disaster event.
One resident had a stark warning to potential looters, “You loot, I shoot.”
This report, by Ted Goodman, was cross posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
