Newly-elected Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at the press conference that he drove through the Pacific Palisades last night to witness the damage done to property.

“It looked apocalyptic,” he said. “Not since the 1990s when Los Angeles was hit with the fires, the flood, the earthquake and the riots, have I seen such disaster occur here in our city.”

Looters in evacuation zones will be prosecuted for maximal punishment, Hochman said at the conference.

“These acts are despicable, and we will prosecute them with maximal punishment,” he said.