The Letcher County Sheriff ’s Department and other law enforcement officers are enforce a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. to stop the looting of homes affected by last Thursday morning’s flood, and prosecutors hope to make the charges stick.
“People are just stopping in people’s driveways and picking up people’s stuff, and we’re not going to tolerate that sort of thing,” Sheriff Mickey Stines said.
The curfew will not apply to people traveling to and from work, or to emergency services personnel. Allterrain vehicles and sideby sides will not be allowed out from sunset to sunrise.
Stines said he is working with state and federal authorities to get law enforcement officers from other areas to come to Letcher County to assist. He said he will deputize them and bond them.
So far, the cities of Glasgow and Mt. Washington have sent a total of eight officers to help here.
“There are statutes that the judge can set a curfew, and he’s going to do that,” Stines said.
Citizens caught a man in a minivan loading up items from driveways in the Upper Bottom area of Whitesburg in the middle of the day, and there are reports of the same thing happening in other areas of the county and the affected region.
“We’re trying to limit these dirtbags, sorry, sons of bitches that are taking people’s things and we’re going to make a damn example of them,” Stines said.
Assistant County Attorney and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Watts agreed.
“On behalf of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office, we intend to prosecute looters to the fullest extent of the law and seek the maximum punishment,” Watts said.
The cities in Letcher County are following the county curfew. In Whitesburg,
Assistant Police Chief Justin Hunsucker said the department will not put up with people stealing from flood-damaged homes and driveways.
“People are going by thinking they’re picking up trash, but that’s somebody’s everything,” Hunsucker said.
Meanwhile, Kentucky State Police have accounted for all missing persons in Letcher County and are returning to regular duties.
“We have had a bunch of issues with looting,” Trooper Matt Gayheart said. “We’re trying to transition over to security and patrol.”
In Jenkins, Police Chief Jim Stephens said he has personally talked to the “usual suspects” as he has seen them on the street over the past few days.
“I’ve been very blunt to some of our usual suspects,” Stephens said. “If you’re in somebody’s yard after dark, you’re probably going to get shot. These people are on edge.”
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