LAS VEGAS (AP) - A downtown Las Vegas apartment building was burglarized three times during an investigation of a fatal fire, a lawyer for the motel said.
Lawyer Steven Jaffe said police arrested four suspects in the Alpine Motel Apartments break-ins, which occurred at the end of February, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Jaffe is representing Las Vegas Dragon Hotel LLC and managing owner Adolfo Orozco.
The investigation was opened after the fire killed six people, injured 13 and displaced dozens of others in December.
The suspects are accused of breaking into the closed, fire-damaged building by removing plywood sheets covering a first-floor window. It is unclear if the arrested suspects were former motel residents.
Police did not return a request for comment.
The company has since reinforced windows and hired a new security company, Jaffe told the Review-Journal.
Jaffe spoke during a civil hearing to determine how and when former residents can get access to their personal belongings left behind when they fled the smoke-filled building.
District Judge Rob Bare and lawyer Robert Eglet, who represents 41 former residents, raised concerns about whether the burglaries could compromise civil litigation and any evidence in the building.
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