Last Thursday, resident in Woodland Hills performed a citizens arrest of a man they saw riding a bicycle with a blowtorch. You may have seen this video before.
Residents in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles detained a man carrying a blowtorch.
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) January 10, 2025
LAPD said that there was not enough probable cause or evidence to charge the suspect with arson, though he was charged with a probation violation.pic.twitter.com/r65bJSSaRi
It wasn't just that this guy was riding around with the blowtorch, but that neighbors claimed they saw him trying to start fires with it. The Kenneth Fire which is now fully contained, is believed to have started in this area around 2:40 PM. The citizens arrest of the guy above happened around 4:30 PM. The neighbors zip tied his hands and held him until police arrived.
Officers responded and took the man into custody. "After the interview (with the arson suspect) and additional investigative steps, looking at some additional evidence that was present, they made the determination that there was not enough probable cause to arrest this person on arson or suspicion of arson, and therefore this person was arrested on felony probation violation," Choi said.
He said the investigation is ongoing. "I would like to thank those community members that were involved in this and helping us, bring this person to our attention so we can have a thorough investigation."
So they couldn't conclusively connect him to the Kenneth Fire but they were still investigating. Yesterday we got a clearer picture of who his person is. His name is Juan Manuel Sierra and he's an illegal immigrant with a long record.
Juan Manuel Sierra, 33, aka Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, Juan Leva, Leyva Moniker, and Juan Sierra, is a Mexican national who entered the U.S. unlawfully at an unknown date and location without inspection by an immigration official. Sierra has multiple encounters with law enforcement from November 2016 to present for a variety of charges and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon Oct. 10, 2023, in Van Nuys, California.
Bill Melugin has the details of his record. Based on this, it sound like he was here as a drug dealer initially.
Per law enforcement sources, this is the prior rap sheet for the illegal alien arrested with a blowtorch. Longer than a CVS receipt.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 14, 2025
11/22/16 - transport controlled substance (felony)
4/24/18 - possession of a controlled substance (misdemeanor)
4/26/18 - arrest relief granted…
Since Sierra was arrested last week, four other people have been arrested for arson. Fortunately all of those fires were put out before they spread.
One of the alleged arsonists, Jose Gerardo Escobar, was charged with three different arson counts and could face nine years in prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He allegedly intentionally set a fire on Friday in Azusa, Calif., which is not in an active wildfire zone but is just east of the Eaton Fire.
Here's video of Escobar being arrested. He has since been charged with arson by DA Hochman.
BREAKING: Man in California has been arrested for starting a fire at Pioneer Park in Azusa, CA.
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) January 11, 2025
The arsonist was identified as a "transient" named Jose Carranza-Escobar. pic.twitter.com/OosFoSd5ly
The three other incidents:
Another suspect allegedly used a barbecue lighter to spark fires in North Hollywood on Sunday night, Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a press conference. Officers arrested the alleged arsonist for an outstanding felony warrant for arson after community members reported the fires and they were quickly booked into the Van Nuys jail.
A third arrest was made on Monday afternoon, also in Van Nuys, Calif. A person had reportedly lit a nearby brush on fire, McDonnell said. By the time officers arrived on the scene, Los Angeles firefighters were already stamping out the flames. The suspect was booked in the Van Nuys jail as well.
The fourth person was arrested in the West LA area after a witness reported seeing them light a trash can on fire.
It's not clear from the stories but it's a safe bet that some or all of these people are homeless.
There's still no evidence that the Palisades Fire or the Eaton Fire, the two largest, were started by arson. As I wrote yesterday, it's still a mystery how the Palisades Fire got started. Investigators believe they know where it started and there were people in the area that morning but no one is saying arson yet. Another possibility, which has happened before, is that the fires were sparked by energized power lines.
Still, given the number of random people arrested for lighting fires in the last few days, it's not that hard to imagine arson or a human accident as a possibility. The one thing we do know is that these fires were not started by lightning (another frequent cause of wildfires in California). There was no lightning in the area when these fires started.
The ATF is now leading a task force to investigate the cause of these fires. Hopefully we will get some answer eventually.
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