Police arrest 5 in North Carolina as looters begin to capitalize on Florence chaos

September 17, 2018 in News by RBN

FoxNews

Police in North Carolina arrested five people Saturday night as looters began to break into stores while Tropical Storm Florence brought chaos to the region.

Wilmington Police confirmed the arrests on Twitter but did not immediately release the identities of the five individuals.

“Charges are pending and those details will be released as they become available,” police said.

Authorities said about 1:30 p.m. they became aware of looting taking place at the Dollar General on 5th and Dawson Streets but were initially asked by management “not to intervene at this time.”

They later said on Twitter that they were working to identify the thieves and would “will charge them to the fullest extent of the law.”

In response to looting reports, the city of Wilmington extended its curfew for the affected area. A tweet spelled out the particulars:

“In response to looting in the area, an extended curfew is now in place for the block between 13th, 14th, Greenfield and Martin Streets. This curfew went into effect at 5 pm and will remain in effect until 6 am. The citywide curfew will run from 10 pm until 6 am.”

The National Hurricane Center said on Saturday afternoon that “catastrophic flooding” is expected in certain parts of the Carolinas as Florence remained stationary over the region. At least 11 deaths have been linked to Flo so far.