Oroville

Oroville Dam Emergency Evacuees Victimized by Looters, Carjackers

While anxious people near Lake Oroville this past week evacuated for fear of an unstable emergency spillway failing and triggering a catastrophic flood, some decided to challenge the law and prey on those running for safety.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office received word of at least three instances involving looting, theft and even carjacking as the emergency unfolded.

One day after the emergency evacuation orders were implemented, two men with a shotgun in hand shot out the windows of the Golden Feather Market in Oroville, grabbed some items from the store's shelves and ditched the scene, police said. Surveillance footage along with helpful insight from neighbors and witnesses allowed police to locate the suspects in a nearby house. The two men were arrested and booked into Butte County Jail and Butte County Juvenille Hall.

Two other people on Sunday in Oroville jumped in a running car while an evacuee was loading it with supplies, according to police. The evacuee, who was hit by the car during the suspects' escape attempt, was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. The two suspects, identified as 27-year-old Cody Bowles and 31-year-old Lucia Ripley, have yet to be located, but the car was later recovered.

While thousands of nervous evacuees turned the calendar to Monday, a person attempted to steal a safe from the home of an evacuated household in Gridley, police said. The suspect, who was riding on an all-terrain vehicle with a safe resting on a trailer behind him, became trapped on railroad tracks before he fled the scene on foot. Police learned that the ATV, safe, and firearms inside of the safe were all stolen by the suspect, who was later discovered and arrested.

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