A Los Angeles firefighter stopped a suspected looter attempting to steal an Emmy from debris at an Altadena home.
In a dramatic encounter, a firefighter from Los Angeles stood up to a suspected looter attempting to steal an Emmy award from a home affected by the Eaton Fire.
The incident took place in Altadena, California, where the fire has caused significant destruction.
The firefighter’s brave actions were captured on video and have since gone viral.
LA firefighter detects a strange woman at the fire scene
Captain Craig Heard was part of a crew fighting the Eaton Fire when he noticed a woman loading items into her truck.
Among these items was what appeared to be a Golden Emmy award. This caught his attention immediately.
He approached the woman, who was driving a white Ram truck, and confronted her about the contents of her vehicle.
The firefighter confronted looter attempting to steal Emmy from rubble of Altadena home
As Captain Heard confronted the woman, he firmly stated, “No way, you are not doing this. These are our houses. We tried to save all these people.”
“You’re not stealing from them.”
The woman insisted that she was not looting and that the items were hers.
‘I’m not looting sir,’ she yelled back. ‘I’m not stealing that. This is my stuff.”
She even claimed, “I’m calling my lawyer” as she tried to distance herself from the situation.
Despite her protests, Captain Heard was not backing down.
He made it clear that he would not allow her to take anything from the homes that firefighters were trying to protect.
The tension escalated when Heard jumped into the passenger side of the truck to grab the keys and prevent the woman from driving away.
Heard said: ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
The woman arrested after being accused of stealing items from burnt homes.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing the woman roaming from house to house with a wagon filled with valuables.
Neighbors had observed her behavior and were concerned.
They recognized that she did not belong in the area and were relieved when the firefighter intervened.
After the confrontation, law enforcement arrived at the scene.
The LA sheriff’s deputies arrested the woman, who was accused of trying to steal items from the burnt homes.
A photo taken at the scene showed the woman surrounded by police, with the Emmy award visible in the bed of her truck.
The Emmy’s true owner
The Emmy award in question belonged to Inness Shadrick, an executive producer known for her work on the 2002 PBS documentary “Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film.”
The film explored the life of the famous photographer who captured iconic images of the American West.
The Eaton Fire destroyed Shadrick’s home, along with many others, devastating the Altadena area.
A neighbor revealed that Shadrick’s family had been trying to salvage their belongings from the rubble when they noticed the looter.
The neighbor expressed concern about the woman’s actions, stating, “She had a wagon with stuff in it that she was loading into her car.”
The community has rallied around Shadrick and her family during this difficult time.
They set up a GoFundMe page to help them recover from the loss of their home.
So far, it has raised over $27,000 of the $50,000 goal.
The Eaton Fire has burned 14,000 acres, destroyed 7,000 structures, and claimed at least 17 lives.
