Suspected looters in burn area

Just weeks after wildfires ripped through Yorba Linda and destroyed 118 homes, suspected looters have been found in one of the devastated neighborhoods, police said Tuesday.

Two women were arrested after police found copper pipes in their car about midnight Monday, said Sgt. Bill Smyser of the Brea police, which patrols Yorba Linda. Police suspect the pipes were taken from houses in the area burned in last month’s Freeway Complex fire.

“This is the first incident of looting of burned homes that I’ve actually heard of,” Smyser said.

A neighbor living on Dorinda Road called police about a “suspicious vehicle that did not belong in the area,” Smyser said.

Police found the women in a 2001 Dodge van with copper pipes stashed in the back of the vehicle. Also found were a switchblade and drug paraphernalia.

Police arrested Gwendolyn Smith, 36, of San Bernardino and Elisha Haas, 19, of Highland on suspicion of possession of stolen property, Smyser said.

Most of Yorba Linda’s burned-down houses have been razed by insurance companies and have fences around them, he said. But elsewhere, Smyser said, “Neighbors are keeping a good eye out.”

-- My-Thuan Tran