2 women arrested for entering an evacuated area near Park Fire in Chico, sheriff says
Two women were arrested Monday for allegedly entering an area under an evacuation order due to the Park Fire, authorities said.
A 41-year-old Cohasset woman and a 43-year-old Chico woman were taken to the Butte County Jail on Monday evening after they allegedly ran into an evacuation zone. Once at the jail, officers found a bag of methamphetamine and a glass pipe in the 41-year-old’s possession, sheriff’s officials said.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a Tuesday afternoon Park Fire news briefing that sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of possible looters at the intersection of Sycamore Valley and Cohasset roads in Chico on Monday evening.
Deputies found a parked truck with three people inside. According to Honea, after a brief investigation, deputies discovered that the two women had left the truck and ran into the evacuated area.
Honea said deputies found the pair about half a mile deep in the evacuation zone, and arrested them on suspicion of knowingly entering an area under an evacuation order in violation of the law.
The two suspects were searched for contraband by a body scanner at the Butte County Jail, and officers discovered the drugs and paraphernalia in the 41-year-old’s possession. The two were booked in jail for unlawfully entering an area upon evacuation, and the 41-year-old faces an additional charge of smuggling methamphetamine into jail, Honea said.
It is unclear the reason why the women entered the evacuated area and whether it was connected with the drugs that were found, the sheriff said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, some areas of northern Butte County were still under evacuation warnings or orders, though the Sheriff’s Office lifted some warnings earlier Tuesday.
The Park Fire has burned more than 386,000 acres with only 14% containment as of Tuesday afternoon, and it is the fifth-largest fire in California’s recorded history, according to Cal Fire.
