Arsonists run wild in LA, 32 cars torched since Friday

[jimmy olsen]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45833207/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.Tv_gltVKR5c

By Sharon Bernstein and Jason Kandel
NBCLosAngeles.com
updated 12/31/2011 7:25:54 PM ET


LOS ANGELES — As many as thirteen automobiles were set ablaze early Saturday as the city's arson spree continued apparently unabated.

The fires were set in North Hollywood and in the Park LaBrea area, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told NBC LA. He said he was still confirming the locations of the fires.

Investigators are confident they can find the person or group responsible, but the probe has been hampered by a dearth of the typical clues in an arson case: No one has reported that a friend or spouse has come home smelling of gasoline, for example, and no suspects have been pinpointed at the scene.

"One key element that's missing is adequate information," Humphrey said.

Read more at NBCLosAngeles.com

The spate of arson amounts to "the single greatest concentration of vehicle fires" in his 26-year career, Humphrey said.

It was not immediately clear the blazes were the work of the same person or group who torched 19 cars Friday morning, but Humphrey said that the overnight blazes fit the profile of the Friday fires

On Thursday, police arrested two men who were also accused of setting fire to cars, but the blazes continued even after they were taken into custody.

"They are working around the clock to investigate these crimes and they are pursuing every single lead to apprehend any person or persons responsible for these dangerous and criminal acts," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Friday at a news conference.

On Saturday, police said they were looking for a man driving a white and tan, mid-90s model Lexus ES300, City News Service reported.

Los Angeles County is offering a $25,000 reward for any information that leads to the apprehension or conviction of those responsible, said county supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky during the conference.

Federal authorities at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives posted a $10,000 reward and the city is expected to do something similar, he added.

In addition to the "seven or eight" vehicles torched in North Hollywood on Saturday, 13 vehicle fires were started Friday within the borders of the city of Los Angeles, along with six more in West Hollywood areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Friday's investigation was fast-moving, as investigators aimed at preventing the arsonist or arsonists from striking again during the holiday weekend. But by about 3 a.m. on Saturday, it was clear that the spree had continued.

"This is an arsonist working," said LA City Fire Deputy Chief Mario D. Rueda. "These are very dangerous fires." So far, he said, only property has been damaged in the blazes, but "these fires can lead to loss of life and injury," Rueda said.

West Hollywood Mayor John Duran, representing an area where four of the 21 incidents occurred, heatedly spoke directly to the person or persons suspected of starting the fires at Friday's conference.

"What were you thinking?" he said. "This is the most dense part of Los Angeles. If you're trying to say something, this is not the way to say it."

Yaroslavsky voiced his discontent and reiterated that city and county officials' were working to find anyone involved in the fires.

"We are very serious about finding those responsible," he said. "We wanna get these SOB's before they hurt somebody."

Investigators hope to make enough progress on the case to prevent additional arson attacks over the holiday weekend.

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents much of the Hollywood area where blazes were set, urged residents to call 911 or a fire hotline at 213-893-9800 if they have information about the fires, or if they see someone who appears to be preparing to set new fires.

The deliberately-set blazes come on the heels of another set of vehicle fires in the same area, for which authorities had arrested two people just a day earlier.

[Razgovory]

I really wish Todd would stop doing things like that.  Guys a loose cannon.  Gonna make us all look bad.

[Syt]

The was a spell of car burning in 2011 in Hamburg. No idea how that turned out, but for a while there were blazing cars almost every night.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Another reason to avoid the Left Coast.

[Duque de Bragança]

Only one third more than Mulhouse/Mülhausen (Alsatian city, French Hinterland). I'm disappointed

[Zanza]

That shit happened a lot in Berlin and Hamburg in the last year. They do occasionally catch someone, but it's very hard as it takes just two minutes or so to set up a car so it burns down five minutes later. With millions of cars to protect, it's an almost impossible task for the limited police resources.

[DontSayBanana]

Another reason to avoid the Left Coast.

Actually, Philly's had some trouble with that, too- the other night, they had 8 cars torched in a single neighborhood.

[Kleves]

See, this is why we can't have nice things.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Another reason to avoid the Left Coast.

Actually, Philly's had some trouble with that, too- the other night, they had 8 cars torched in a single neighborhood.

Yeah well that whole town is one big Beirut waiting to happen.

[jimmy olsen]

Car count is up to 39

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/us/los-angeles-car-firebombings-set-city-on-edge.html

Cars Set on Fire, and Los Angeles Set on Edge

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: January 1, 2012

LOS ANGELES — For all its considerable delights, Southern California always seems faintly on the cusp of an apocalypse. There are palm trees, year-round gardens and splendid weather — it was 81 degrees and sunny on Sunday — but there are also mudslides, gang shootings, wildfires and earthquakes.

On this holiday weekend, Los Angeles was dealing with a new plague, this time an arsonist (or arsonists) who in the course of three days firebombed at least 39 cars in the Los Angeles area, many of them parked in carports, engulfing vehicles and apartments in gasoline-fueled towers of flame.

For three unsettling nights, police officers and firefighters have raced around the city, always one step behind the person, or persons, who has sent people in Los Angeles to their windows repeatedly throughout the night in response to the slightest sound or change in light.

"It's pretty scary," said Rebecca Asch, 29, who lives in West Hollywood. "I have a gated garage and it's underneath my building, and if someone were to come in and light one of our cars on fire, it would probably set the whole building on fire.

"Who would do that? Who is driving around setting cars on fire?"

That sense of confusion was heightened by the arrest early last week of two suspects in a run of arson fires in Hollywood, including a car fire. But the police do not believe there was any connection between those fires and the series of blazes that began early Friday morning.

There have been no serious injuries. Still, Los Angeles is enduring its worst fires since the riots of 1992.

Much of the city this weekend — particularly the lush green streets of West Hollywood and Hollywood — has felt something like a war zone.

On New Year's Eve, the swell of sirens began as darkness fell and continued nearly nonstop through the night, followed by the thwacks of police helicopters flying low in search of the arsonist. Patrol cars roared through residential streets, lights off, presumably chasing the latest potential spotting of the suspect.

What turned out to be a minor fire in a dryer at an assisted living home for the elderly in West Hollywood — wholly unrelated to the arsons — drew a veritable battalion of firefighters and 10 fire engines.

Shortly after midnight Thursday, when the attacks began in earnest, people in Hollywood, roused by sirens and helicopters, walked into the street, many in nightclothes, to see a car on the corner of Curson and Hawthorne Avenues (heretofore infamous as the site of the arrest of Hugh Grant on charges of soliciting a prostitute) in flames, sending billows of white smoke into the sky.

Firefighters doused the car with water before carting the remains away. The next morning, all that was left was some shattered glass and a shovelful of blackened cinders.

The random nature of the attacks has caught everyone — including the police — off guard, and people are taking all kinds of precautions. Yard lights are being kept on all night. People who have the option are parking their cars on the street, and away from their homes, in a kind of car-versus-house triage. Those who can are parking behind locked gates.

Some conventional wisdom is being established by residents who have become particularly attuned in recent days to the patterns of police patrols. The sound of helicopters alone is not cause for alarm, since it is probably routine surveillance. But the sound of racing helicopters and sirens almost surely means another car has been firebombed.

Inevitably, there have been expressions of mordant, or perhaps opportunistic, humor: of leaving cars on the street in the hope that they would be the subject of the next attack, allowing their owners to claim insurance money. But mostly there was anxiety.

"I've been more vigilant the last few days," said Jon D'Amico, 46, a building manager in West Hollywood. "I've been looking around. I'm an apartment manager, so I kind of worry because there are a bunch of cars out front. I do pop my head out more and look around."

"Who is doing this?" Mr. D'Amico said, his voice tinged with anger and frustration. "Is it gang members? Is it kids out of school? They haven't given us much information, so I don't think they know much."

Cmdr. Andrew J. Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department said that investigators had yet to determine if there were one or more arsonists involved. He said investigators had a number of descriptions of potential suspects and the cars that might have been used in the arsons.

"I can tell you this, we have dozens of detectives — from robbery to the homicide detectives — working every night to see if we can catch these guys," Commander Smith said. "Every time he hits, we have a crime scene. They interrogate everyone around."

Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said officials did not have a precise count on how many apartment buildings had been seriously damaged by the attacks and how many people had been displaced. "Most of these were automobile fires, many of them underneath apartments or resident which were also subsequently damaged," he said.

After years of declining crime rates, the Police Department is well regarded here, and many people said they were confident that it would soon solve the case.

"I think they have a pretty good reputation to catch arsonists pretty quickly," said Darla Brunner, 53, who lives in North Hollywood. "I don't think people can keep doing this and get away with it. I do expect them to find the culprit pretty quickly."

Others, though, were concerned that the case would prove difficult to solve. "I think it's got to be hard to find the person who's doing this," Ms. Asch said. "It's like a phantom just running around setting cars on fire.

"It's got to be tough to find them. I know they're trying. There were a ton of cops out last night."

[citizen k]

That shit happened a lot in Berlin and Hamburg in the last year. They do occasionally catch someone, but it's very hard as it takes just two minutes or so to set up a car so it burns down five minutes later. With millions of cars to protect, it's an almost impossible task for the limited police resources.

The L.A. arsonist was arrested today. He was from Germany. 

[The Brain]

I keep reading Jaronist.

[Caliga]

Saw a picture of the suspect earlier.  He looks like Squiggy.

[jimmy olsen]

Motive - Anti-Americanism

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0103/German-arrested-in-L.A.-arsons-declares-I-hate-America

German arrested in L.A. arsons declares, 'I hate America'

Harry Burkhart, a German citizen and resident of Hollywood, was arrested in connection to the 53 arson fires set across Los Angeles.

By Dan Whitcomb and Hillel Aron, Reuters / January 3, 2

Los Angeles

Police arrested a Hollywood resident believed to be a German citizen on Monday in connection with a wave of 53 arson fires across Los Angeles that terrorized neighborhoods over the holiday weekend.

Harry Burkhart, 24, was taken into custody early on Monday morning after a reserve sheriff's deputy spotted him driving a van similar to one being sought after a string of fires set in Los Angeles, Hollywood and surrounding communities.

Authorities booked Burkhart on suspicion of arson  and said he was being held at Los Angeles County jail. Authorities declined to comment on a Los Angeles Times report that Burkhart was embroiled in an immigration dispute with the federal government over the status of his mother.

L. A. Weekly also quoted police sources that Burkhart declared "I hate America," when he was detained.

"Our long, four-day nightmare is over," Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said at a Monday evening press conference.

"This has been literally a nightmare for people who live on the west side of L.A., the San Fernando Valley and West Hollywood," Yaroslavsky said. "I live in that community and I haven't had a good night's sleep since last week. I'm looking forward to that tonight."

Burkhart was expected to be advised of the charges against him at a hearing on Wednesday.

'MOST DANGEROUS ARSONIST'

But Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said that federal law enforcement agents "who have been privy to removal hearings" had recognized the suspect from surveillance videotape taken near several of the fires.

Burkhart's van had Canadian license plates, Beck said.

The chief said detectives believed that Burkhart acted alone but said residents should remain vigilant and report suspicious activity.

The first of the more than 50 arson blazes broke out on Friday. The rash of fires, most of them set in cars and parking structures, some spreading to carports and homes, continued into the early morning hours of Monday morning.

The spate of arsons left residents on edge during the holiday weekend, as fires broke out seemingly at random across neighborhoods and sirens screamed through the night.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said the person who had set the fires was "perhaps the most dangerous arsonist in the County of L.A. that I can recall."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fires had caused an estimated $3 million in damage. "These were serious, potentially deadly crimes that needlessly endangered thousands of innocent lives," he said.

There were no fatalities caused by the fires but one firefighter was injured and another person suffered from smoke inhalation during a blaze that broke out on New Year's Eve.

One of the fires damaged a house in the Hollywood Hills where late rocker Jim Morrison was inspired to write the 1968 song "Love Street" about his girlfriend.

Baca said that the deputy credited with detaining Burkhart was a part-time reserve officer who makes only $1 a year because he is essentially a volunteer. (Additional reporting by Mary Slosson; Editing by Greg McCune)

[mongers]

Motive - Anti-Americanism

Maybe he was just waging economic warfare against the US.