Police officers detained a man with a blowtorch on Thursday accused of trying to start fires in a Los Angeles community. Citizens initially apprehended the suspect in the area before the LAPD took him into custody.
Law enforcement officials received a call at 4:22 p.m. on Thursday notifying them of the suspected arsonist. A person claimed that a man was purposely trying to start a fire in Woodland Hills, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Witnesses said a man was carrying a large blow torch while riding a bicycle and trying to set garbage cans and discarded Christmas trees on fire, a Los Angeles Fox affiliate reported. Concerned residents saw the person and pursued him, eventually confronting him and holding him down while waiting for police to arrive.
“We were sitting in the backyard and suddenly, we hear a car come to a screeching halt, and the guy is running out saying, ‘Stop! Drop what you’re holding! Neighbors, he’s trying to start a fire! Call 911!’” Renata Grinshpun told KTLA.
“He was very, like, ‘I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this,’” said another witness. “And very focused on moving forward with the blow torch. And we’re like, ‘We can’t be doing that right now.’”
“We really banded together as a group,” said Grinshpun. “A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope, and we were able to do a citizens’ arrest.”
The incident occurred approximately five miles from the start of the Kenneth Fire in Los Angeles, the most recent fire to start in Southern California. That fire reportedly started at 3:34 p.m. on Thursday and has burned over 960 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Initially, the LAPD could not determine whether the apprehended suspect was involved with the Kenneth Fire. He was not officially charged with anything when he was apprehended, according to multiple reports. However, NewsNation later reported that the Kenneth Fire was now being investigated as arson. Sean Dinse, from the Topanga Division of the LAPD, confirmed to the network that a suspect was in custody.
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As of early Friday morning, there were no reports or confirmations as to whether the man with a blowtorch was the actual person in custody.
The wildfires have devastated Southern California, causing an unprecedented amount of damage to houses and reportedly burning over 36,000 acres as of Thursday night. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes, and 10 people have reportedly died from the blazes. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to help with the emergency and contain the wildfires.
