Two women were indicted Friday for allegedly trying to loot a home damaged in the Dallas tornadoes that came through the city on Oct. 20.
According to court documents, a grand jury indicted Toni Caldwell, 43, and Rhonda Harper, 45, for allegedly entering a home on Nov. 4 that had been damaged in the storm and stealing from it.
The home was in an area that Gov. Greg Abbott had declared a disaster zone, according to indictment documents.
Harper had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery in 1996, while Caldwell had been convicted of credit card abuse in 2014 and aggravated assault in 1997.
The alleged looting happened on the 7700 block of North Haven Road, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
A neighbor had called police after seeing the two women walking around the property with flashlights and thought it was suspicious, the warrant said.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found the two women who then allegedly told them they were stealing from the house, the affidavit stated.
The women had tried to steal several power tools and other home goods worth about $1,150, according to the affidavit.
A spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office previously said the office would use a new law that went into effect on Sept. 1 to seek harsher punishment for crimes committed in disaster areas.
Under the new law, if someone burglarizes a home in a disaster area, they could now face anywhere between five years to life in prison, the spokesperson said. The sentence for the same crime before Sept. 1 was two to 20 years.
