Looting picks up amid Hurricane Ian's aftermath in Florida, driving officials to impose curfew

Florida police arrested a group of looters on Thursday in an area of Fort Myers that was damaged by Hurricane Ian, according to a local newspaper.

A video shared by NBC 2 shows five suspects in handcuffs in the city’s beach area after they were arrested by police.

Sheriff’s deputies told me Thursday afternoon these people were arrested for looting on Fort Myers Beach. pic.twitter.com/j8JKRremlP

— Gage Goulding - NBC2 (@GageGoulding) September 30, 2022

“Sheriff’s deputies told me Thursday afternoon these people were arrested for looting on Fort Myers Beach,” reporter Gage Goulding tweeted.

Police have warned about potential looting taking place in the aftermath of the Hurricane, as countless buildings and stores have been damaged and the goods are exposed.

“For any of those individuals that think they are going to go out there and loot or prey on people during this horrific event — you better think twice,” said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno. “When I say zero tolerance, zero tolerance means we will hunt you down, track you down, and you’re going to jail. If you’re lucky.”

In wake of the crime spike, Lee County officials announced a 6 p.m. curfew for the county, which will remain in place until further notice.

"To be sure, and I feel safe relaying this in on behalf of law enforcement, there's going to be a zero-tolerance policy for looting and violence in this town," said Lee County Manager Roger Dejarlais.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis echoed local officials by issuing a moral plea against looting during a visit to the leveled community of Matlacha, near Fort Myers, on Friday.

“They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, ‘you loot, we shoot,'” DeSantis said. “At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation. We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who’ve suffered misfortune.”

Lee County, which includes cities such as Cape Coral and Fort Myers, was severely impacted by the hurricane. About two hours after the storm made landfall, Fort Myers reached a 5.8 feet storm surge, breaking the previous record of 3.36 feet. Wind gusts of more than 100 mph were reported.

About 75% of Lee County Electric Cooperative customers and about 80% of Florida Power and Light customers were left without electricity.