Footage shows the moment an arson suspect was arrested in Azusa, California, while standing next to a burning tree, as wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles and surrounding California areas.
Jose Gerardo Escobar was arrested on suspicion of arson in Pioneer Park on January 10 around 11:30 p.m., not far from the San Gabriel Mountains, where the deadly Eaton Fire broke out.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleges that Escobar attempted to set fire to a fallen tree in Pioneer Park.
The footage, shared by the prosecutor’s office, shows a police officer detaining the 39-year-old wearing a green jacket and black baseball cap as flames rage in front of them. He is taken away while a tree burns to the ground in the public park.
Escobar is charged with one count each of felony arson, arson during a state of emergency, and attempted arson. He is being held on $20,000 bail. If convicted as charged, he faces up to nine years in prison.
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Officials later confirmed this Escobar is unrestrained To any of the major wildfires burning in Southern California.
Dozens of others were arrested for looting, burglary, curfew violations or other violations during the Los Angeles-area wildfires. On Tuesday evening, a person was arrested for impersonating a firefighter.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said one person admitted to starting the fire “because he liked the smell of burning leaves.”
Another person said, “I enjoyed causing chaos and destruction,” McDonnell said.
Millions of Southern Californians are worried, as another round of dangerous fire weather is expected in the region, along with a rare warning of a “particularly dangerous situation” for an area near where the Palisades and Eaton fires killed at least 25 people. And destroy thousands. Of homes.
—With files from The Associated Press
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