Azusa residents thwart man setting fire in park, police say

[ad_1] The Azusa Police Division this weekend arrested a homeless man suspected of setting a brush fireplace at a park positioned close to the foothills.

Law enforcement officials responded Friday at 11:37 p.m. to a report of a brush fireplace at Pioneer Park. Police Capt. Robert Landeros mentioned two residents noticed the hearth, rushed over and noticed a homeless man making an attempt to begin one other by making an attempt to set fireplace to a tree that had been knocked down by the latest 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 fireplace. 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 begin the hearth, however he praised the short intervention of the 2 residents and response from the native fireplace station.

“We have been fortunate that the winds have been calm final night time,” 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 begin a fireplace because the Kenneth fireplace burned, based on 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 fireplace, which started Thursday afternoon close to the county line.