Sheriff Robert Luna and Los Angeles Police Department leaders said law enforcement has made multiple arrests in fire-affected areas, identified drone incursions that damaged aircraft, and is participating in a multiagency investigation into the origin of several fires.

Luna said the sheriff's office had made 34 arrests in its jurisdiction — 30 in the Eaton fire area and four in the Palisades area — and described arrests for curfew violations, possession of narcotics and firearms and drone incidents. "Last night specifically . . . we arrested 4, 2 were for curfew violations, 2 were arrested for 1 drone incident," he said, and added that investigators had now responded to two drone incidents that led to three arrests.

The Los Angeles Police Department said the city had made 14 arrests related to the fires for a range of alleged offenses, including curfew violations, burglary, impersonating a firefighter and possession of burglary tools.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hockman warned that prosecutors and law enforcement would pursue looting, arson, price gouging and fraud connected to recovery efforts. "You will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law," Hockman said, and he announced a 2 p.m. press conference to disclose the first charges in a looting case and in an arson case.

On the origin and cause of the fires, officials said investigators were "looking at everything." Assistant Chief Dominic Choi described a new regional wildland-fire investigative task force led by ATF and noted that origin investigations remain ongoing. Sheriff Luna said the investigative teams are coordinating recovery and origin work alongside search-and-rescue and coroner functions.

Why this matters: arrests and drone incursions can hamper firefighting operations and complicate public safety; identifying causes may lead to criminal charges or civil actions and affect utility and landowner responsibilities.

Officials urged the public to avoid evacuation areas, respect curfews and report suspected criminal activity to the appropriate authorities. The district attorney also warned residents to vet donation and fundraiser solicitations and to use official recovery portals such as recovery.lacounty.gov and emergency network Los Angeles (enla.gov) when seeking vetted assistance.