‘We have been fortunate’: Azusa police arrest suspected arsonist

The Azusa Police Division this weekend arrested a homeless man suspected of setting a brush hearth at a park positioned close to the foothills.

Law enforcement officials responded Friday at 11:37 p.m. to a report of a brush hearth at Pioneer Park. Police Capt. Robert Landeros mentioned two residents noticed the fireplace, rushed over and noticed a homeless man making an attempt to start out one other by making an attempt to set hearth to a tree that had been knocked down by the current winds.

“It doesn’t seem that they use bodily pressure however verbally confronted him and referred to as police,” he mentioned.

Arriving officers positioned the person and took him into custody on suspicion of arson whereas Los Angeles County firefighters put out the comb hearth. Landeros recognized the suspect as Jose Carranza-Escobar, a homeless man whose final identified residence was in Azusa.

Landeros didn’t say what the person used to start out the fireplace, however he praised the short intervention of the 2 residents and response from the native hearth station.

“We have been fortunate that the winds have been calm final evening,” he mentioned.

The arrest comes a day after residents in a West Hills neighborhood detained a suspected arsonist who they are saying was making an attempt to start out a hearth because the Kenneth hearth burned, in accordance with the Los Angeles Police Division.

Authorities recognized the suspect as Juan Sierra, 33. Though he was booked on suspicion of a probation violation, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Division mentioned Sierra is a “particular person of curiosity” within the Kenneth hearth, which started Thursday afternoon close to the county line.