Two men accused of looting in La Ronge, Sask., during the recent wildfire evacuation last month are staying in jail.
The men were arrested near Waskesiu on June 4 in a stolen SUV. RCMP recovered a stolen laptop, parcels and a crowbar. The items traced back to La Ronge, which was under an evacuation order as the Pisew wildfire tore through the surrounding forest.
Both men were denied bail when they appeared in provincial court. At the June 19 hearing for one of the men, judge Steven Schiefner said the alleged thefts undercut the emergency evacuation system.
“These people were vulnerable,” he said.
People are willing to leave their homes because they believe that their property is safe from thieves, Schiefner said. Should they doubt that and stay behind, they are at risk and distract emergency workers who must then account for them.
“It was brazen, it happened during a time when there was an evacuation order, and most [people had complied with that order and, in fact, had been evacuated,” Schiefner said.
“Their conduct, it’s alleged, injured at least two sets of victims, both the owner of the house and the SUV.”
Schiefner said he’d gotten correspondence from the mayor La Ronge who indicated “releasing them is not acceptable.”
“This is brazen conduct that shocks the sensibilities of the public. There are no [release] conditions that I could come up with that are sufficient,” he said.
“I simply cannot release you.”
Both men are scheduled to be back in court this month.
