17 To Be Charged In Santa Monica-Beverly Hills Looting

LOS ANGELES, CA — Dozens of people are facing charges for their alleged roles in the looting and mayhem that trailed the protests across Los Angeles County since Saturday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced Wednesday.

From the mayhem that tore through Santa Monica and Beverly Hills over the weekend, 17 people face charges ranging from looting to burglary.

As of yet, 61 people have been charged with crimes related to the civil unrest. Most are charged with looting while a handful face charges including assault and battery on a peace officer, robbery, burglary, possession of a destructive device, identity theft and receiving stolen property, according to the District Attorney's Office. The 61 cases representa just a fraction of the more than 2,000 arrests made over the last few days — the vast majority related to curfew violations.

According to the district attorney, felony looting carries a potential maximum three-year county jail sentence. Some of the people charged with looting may have to post bail since a state of emergency was declared in Los Angeles County, officials said.

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• Photos: Venice Businesses Looted, Damaged During Protests

"I support the peaceful organized protests that already have brought needed attention to racial inequality throughout our society, including in the criminal justice system," Lacey said in a written statement. "I also have a constitutional and ethical duty to protect the public and prosecute people who loot and vandalize our community."

Lacey, herself, has been the subject of demonstrations with protesters calling for her resignation. Her critics contend she has been insufficiently aggressive in prosecuting police for alleged misconduct. In response, she pointed out that she is the state's only prosecutor with an active case against an officer and cited a string of police misconduct prosecutions under her tenure even though many end without conviction. Activists from Black Lives Matter staged another in a series of protests outside Lacey's office on Wednesday.

These case may just be the initial spate of charges with additional potential cases to be presented by various law enforcement agencies later this week. Other potential cases not yet turned over to the District Attorney's Office because some people who were arrested over the past several days were cited and released.

The charges filed by Lacey's office include cases against:

• 17 people charged at the Airport Courthouse -- which covers some of the western portions of Los Angeles County, including Santa Monica and Beverly Hills -- with crimes including felony looting, burglary and identity theft, along with misdemeanor looting and burglary;
• 15 people charged with felony looting, fleeing a pursuing peace officer's vehicle or attempted looting in Compton;
• 11 people charged in downtown Los Angeles with felonies, including looting, robbery and assault on a peace officer;
• six people charged with felony looting or attempted looting in Norwalk;
• five people charged with felony looting in Van Nuys;
• three people charged with felony looting in Long Beach;
• three people charged with attempted looting in Torrance; and
• a 15-year-old youth charged in juvenile court with assault on a peace officer.

Eleven other potential cases were declined by the District Attorney's Office due to insufficient evidence, with 19 others referred back to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.

Prosecutors said they referred 31 potential cases to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, which announced late Wednesday afternoon that it had filed looting and other charges against two men who were jailed.

Daniel Heredia, 23, was charged with one count each of looting, burglary, violation of curfew, petty theft and trespassing. He allegedly fled from the Smoke and Vape Shop on Western Avenue and was arrested Saturday at Sixth Street and Western Avenue, according to the City Attorney's Office.

Ronney Stringfellow, 24, was charged with one count each of looting, burglary, attempted petty theft, violation of curfew and trespassing stemming from his arrest at a Walgreens store at 617 W. Seventh St., according to the City Attorney's Office.

The District Attorney's Office prosecutes all felony cases in the county and misdemeanors that occur in unincorporated areas of the county and in most cities.

Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Torrance, Burbank, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach prosecute misdemeanor offenses that occur in their jurisdictions.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.