A person suspected of beginning a string of fires in downtown Los Angeles — together with a blaze that required 170 firefighters to extinguish and precipitated $7 million in injury — was arrested Friday, authorities stated.
The Los Angeles Hearth Division recognized the suspect as Victor Marias, 31. The division offered the case to the L.A. County district lawyer’s workplace on Friday and beneficial submitting a number of felony arson expenses towards him, together with a probation violation.
“We view the crime of arson as one of the most egregious offenses in Los Angeles, and the LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section uses every resource available to investigate and prosecute those that are responsible,” LAFD Capt. Erik Scott stated in a video shared by the division.
These latest fires included an enormous blaze on Kohler Road on July 19, which unfold to a number of industrial buildings and took greater than 5 hours to extinguish — leading to greater than $7 million in injury and injuring one firefighter, authorities stated.
Investigators used surveillance digital camera video to determine a suspect and decide that the hearth was began deliberately.
Authorities allege Marias began the hearth on Kohler Road in addition to two others within the downtown space — on Willow Road on Sept. 22 and Oct. 3.
Marias can be on lively probation for a hearth that broken a construction only one block away from the Kohler Road fireplace in August 2023, authorities say.
“Surveillance footage shows a suspect collecting rubbish from a public trash can, also collecting wood for kindling and placing it near the base of a power pole,” stated Scott, describing the Oct. 3 fireplace. “Moments after walking away, flames erupted from the garbage, eventually damaging the pole.”
There’s additionally surveillance footage from Sept. 22 displaying a suspect lighting trash on fireplace by the door of a enterprise, he added. In each instances, residents offered the safety footage.
“The assistance provided by witnesses within the community was critical to identifying and ultimately arresting the suspect,” Scott stated. “Their willingness to step forward and to take an active role in protecting their own neighborhood from harm is appreciated and commended.”
The LAFD is asking residents with further info, photographs and movies of those fires to e-mail LAFDArson@lacity.org.
