Law enforcement officials located in Lee County, Florida have issued a warning that not all of the post-hurricane looters in the state will get off as easy as those who were arrested earlier this week, a group of individuals which, as it happens, included a few who were in the United States illegally.
According to a report from Fox News, Omar Ortiz, 33, and Valerie Celeste Mena, 26, were taken into custody with 20-year-olds Brandon Mauricio Araya and Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya. Sheriff’s deputies working for Lee County arrested the four criminals on charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure during a state of emergency, according to information that was gleaned from online jail records.
“As far as looting — we have law and order in Lee County. We have law and order in our great state of Florida, and we always will,” Marceno went on to say. “Right now, we have four cases of looting, and I’m proud to say they’re behind bars where they belong. Our residents are going to be safe.”
Marceno then revealed that three out of the four individuals busted for looting were here in the U.S. illegally, going on to state, “All three of these subjects are here illegally in this country — Robert Mena, Brandon Araya , Stephen Araya — all arrested for stealing bottles on Fort Myers Beach during the hurricane. They were located and arrested. And I’m going to tell I’m not tolerating it again.”
Fox News said, “Florida sheriff’s deputies arrested the four suspected burglars who allegedly looted in the wake of Hurricane Ian, while many impacted Floridians struggle to recover from the Category 4 storm.”
Marceno then issued a warning to other would-be looters out in the state of Florida, saying not all of them are going to be as lucky as to escape from their crimes with lives fully intact.
“I’m not playing. We’re not playing. We have law and order and great residents will be safe and secure. We’ve had arrests on these incidents,” Marceno continued. “You might walk in. You’ll be carried out.”
Seems to me the sheriff’s message lines up well with the one Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, shared last week, reminding criminals that might see an opportunity in all of the tragedy and chaos left behind from Hurricane Ian, to remember that Florida is a Second Amendment state, insinuating that taking this course of action could result in being shot by someone exercising their God-given right to protect life, liberty, and property.
Thanks to a lot of the gun control laws passed by liberals, which ultimately serve to rip weapons out of the hands of law abiding citizens instead of the criminal population, baddies these days do not seem to fear the potential consequences of breaking into a person’s home and stealing their goods.
But it seems DeSantis and those in local law enforcement are being gracious by reminding thieves that they are taking a great risk by attempting to violate another person’s rights for the sake of financial gain.
Is money really worth dying over?