Tag: arson

Angry L.A. Residents Tackle ‘Homeless’ Arsonist, Turn Him Over to Cops

Los Angeles has rediscovered law and order in these past few days. L.A. cops and sheriff’s deputies have arrested at least 20 looters and on Thursday night they arrested a man who was seen setting the nearly 900 acre Kenneth Fire in Woodland Hills/Calabasas.

KTLA reports that neighbors on the Citizen app reported that the man, who looked possibly Middle Eastern, was “tackled and held” by neighbors until police got there and placed him under arrest (although he hasn’t been charged). 

Residents who reportedly spotted the suspect held him down until officers arrived. Photos of the arrest shared on the Citizen app show officers surrounding a home where a male suspect was apprehended.

Authorities have not confirmed whether the man was responsible or had any connection with the current wildfires. His identity was not released.

The Kenneth Fire was first reported around 2:30 p.m. in an area of dry brush in the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space just north of the 101 Freeway. By 6 p.m., the fire grew to 960 acres with zero containment.

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What to Know About the Suspect Behind Ballot Box Fires in the Northwest

The man suspected of setting fires in ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state is an experienced metalworker and may be planning additional attacks, authorities said Wednesday.

Investigators believe the man who set the incendiary devices at ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, had a “wealth of experience” in metal fabrication and welding, said Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner.

The way the devices were constructed and the way they were attached to the metal drop boxes showed that expertise, Benner said.

Authorities described the suspect as a white man, age 30 to 40, who is balding or has very short hair.

Police previously said surveillance video showed the man driving a black or dark-colored 2001 to 2004 Volvo S-60. The vehicle did not have a front license plate, but it did have a rear plate with unknown letters or numbers.

The incendiary devices were marked with the message “Free Gaza,” according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

A third device placed at a different drop box in Vancouver earlier this month also carried the words “Free Palestine” in addition to “Free Gaza,” the official said.

Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive for the suspected arson attacks, which destroyed or damaged hundreds of ballots at the drop box in Vancouver on Monday when the box’s fire suppression system didn’t work as intended. Authorities are trying to figure out whether the suspect actually had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to try to create confusion, the official said.

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Homeless man admits to torching mailbox, destroying ballots in Phoenix

A homeles Phoenix man was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly set fire to a US Postal Service collection box that contained numerous election ballots. 35-year-old Dieter Klofkorn was charged with one count of arson and booked into Maricopa County jail. He later confessed to the crime.

The Phoenix Fire Department contacted police shortly after 1 am on Thursday after they responded to a fire at a USPS collection box on Seventh Avenue, a press release stated. 

While working on leads in the case, investigators were led to possible suspect Klofkorn. He was arrested on an outstanding and unrelated warrant. While in custody, he admitted to the arson. “Klofkorn stated that he committed the arson because he wanted to be arrested and that his actions were not politically motivated and not related to anything involving the upcoming election,” the press release stated.

Klofkorn was said to have lit a piece of paper on fire and tossed it into the collection box, in which there were around 20 election ballots and other pieces of mail, which were destroyed, according to AZ Central. Social media users claimed that the fire was set by a Republican, with an official Democratic Party account on X spreading the claims. “But yeah, Democrats are the ones doing voter fraud,” wrote the Harris County, Texas Democratic Party X account in response to a post that claimed Klofkorn was a Republican. 

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Burning ballots pulled from inside smoking Vancouver ballot box; hundreds likely damaged

Hundreds of ballots burned in a Vancouver ballot box arson Monday morning, authorities report.

KATU was on the scene at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver shortly after 4 a.m., where heavy smoke was seen coming from inside a dropoff ballot box.

Our photographer captured grey smoke steadily billowing out of the Park and Ride ballot box at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center near Southeast 162nd Avenue just after 6 a.m.

Multiple police units were in the area, and the ballot box was cordoned off by police tape as it continued to smoke.

Around 6:30 a.m., KATU captured footage of first responders releasing a pile of actively burning ballots onto the ground, which continued to smolder and smoke heavily even after the flames were put out.

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Cal Fire employee arrested in connection with off-duty arson

A member of California’s firefighter department has been accused of violating his own duties and starting several fires over the last couple of weeks.

CAL FIRE law enforcement officers arrested Robert Hernandez, 38, a CAL FIRE fire apparatus engineer, at Howard Forest Fire Station Friday, and accused him of setting five fires while off duty.

The blazes burned through a combined area of under an acre, according to CAL FIRE.

“I am appalled to learn one of our employees would violate the public’s trust and attempt to tarnish the tireless work of the 12,000 women and men of CAL FIRE,” CAL FIRE Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler, said in a statement.

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San Bernardino wildfire started by suspected arsonist

A California man has been arrested in connection with the San Bernardino Line Fire, which has scorched tens of thousands of acres of forestland. The wildfire, which began last week, has led to significant damage and the evacuation of residents in affected areas.Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old resident of Norco, California, was taken into custody following an investigation by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department into the wildfire that has resulted in over 34,000 acres being burned. 

“Highland Station detectives, in collaboration with Cal Fire investigators, identified Justin Wayne Halstenberg as the suspect who started a fire in the area of Baseline Road and Alpin Street in the city of Highland, also known as the Line Fire, on September 5, 2024,” said the sheriff’s office in a press release.

Halstenberg has been a delivery driver for FedEx since last year and previously worked at the US Postal Service, according to the New York Post. He is facing multiple charges, including arson of an inhabited structure, arson of forest land, and possession of flammable material.

Authorities have not provided further details on how Halstenberg is suspected of starting the fire. He is currently being held at San Bernardino’s Central Detention Center on $80,000 bail, with a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.

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Three Time Deported Illegal Alien Charged in Arson Fire, Killed Mother and Two Children Sleeping In Home

An illegal immigrant, previously deported three times, has been charged with murdering a mom and her two sons after setting their mobile home ablaze with the family sleeping inside. 

A third son, whose name has not been released, fortunately escaped the violent criminal alien.

Jose Carmen Cardona will reportedly be arraigned on Monday on murder, attempted murder, and child endangerment charges.

It is currently unclear where the man illegally entered the country from, but per Fox, “A source with knowledge of the investigation tells Fox News Digital the suspect has been deported three times and returned to the U.S. anyway.”

Biden’s illegal immigrants are responsible for a growing number of murders and violent crimes against American women and children.

Notably, as The Gateway Pundit reported, Laken Riley, a talented young nursing student at the University of Georgia, was brutally murdered by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a criminal illegal alien, while going on a campus jog.

The Gateway Pundit also reported earlier this month that an illegal alien from El Salvador was charged with brutally raping and murdering Rachel Morin, a mother-of-five, on a Maryland hiking trail last year.

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1000-Year-Old Notre Dame Cathedral in Normandy Has ‘Caught Fire’ – Authorities Say Possible ‘Religious Attack’

A 1000-year-old cathedral in the French city of Rouen has caught fire in what authorities say could be a religiously motivated attack.

While details about the blaze are currently scarce, firefighters are currently working to extinguish the fire and reduce the level of damage.

Local television footage initially showed a dark plume of smoke rising from the spire, with onlookers in the streets below watching in horror.

Other images revealed smoke seeping through a gap in the white cover surrounding the scaffolding.

A masterpiece of French medieval Gothic architecture, the cathedral dates back to the 12th century and gained international fame after being repeatedly painted by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet in the 19th century. Between the years of 1876 and 1880 it was the tallest building in the world.

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Disgraced Professor Sentenced for Action That Could Have Trapped Firefighters in Deadly Blaze

A former college lecturer on “criminal justice issues” is going to get some first-hand experience in the subject after he was sentenced to spend five years and three months in prison on Thursday.

Gary Stephen Maynard had pleaded guilty in January to starting a number of fires in California that could have had much more disastrous results than they did.

Maynard, 49, had formerly lectured at Santa Clara University and Sonoma State University, KCRA reported.

The former lecturer admitted to starting at least four fires in July and August of 2021, according to a Justice Department news release, and pleaded guilty to three counts of arson.

One count of arson was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to court records cited by The New York Times.

Maynard was charged with starting fires behind firefighters who were working to contain the Dixie Fire, which eventually destroyed more than 1,000 homes and spread over 1,500 square miles, according to KCRA.

“He intentionally made a dangerous situation more perilous by setting some of his fires behind the men and women fighting the Dixie fire, potentially cutting off any chance of escape,” Phillip A. Talbert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said in a statement (available in full below).

It eventually grew to become the second-largest fire in California history, according to the outlet.

“Maynard faced the possibility of up to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine,” KCRA reported. “Besides the prison sentence of more than five years, he was ordered to pay $13,081 in restitution.”

His attorney argued that Maynard was “suffering from untreated and significant mental health issues when he set the fires and has sought treatment since then,” according to Fox News.

“A Santa Clara University colleague of Mr. Maynard, who was not identified, told the police in October 2020 that Mr. Maynard was struggling with anxiety, depression, split personality, and wanted to kill himself, the complaint said,” according to The Times.

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Canadian man who claimed wildfires were a federal conspiracy admits arson

A Canadian man who claimed forest fires were the result of a government conspiracy has pleaded guilty to lighting more than a dozen blazes during the country’s record-breaking wildfire season, as nearly 100 fires persist in drought-stricken regions.

Brian Paré admitted to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life at the courthouse in central Quebec, an act that drew away key firefighting resources from nearly 700 fires in the province last summer.

Those blazes, which required the aid of international fire crews, charred more than 4.5m hectares of boreal landscape. Virtually all of those fires were caused by lightning strikes, the Quebec’s fire service says.

But at the courthouse in the town of Chibougamau, prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron said on Monday two of the 14 fires lit by Paré forced the evacuation of 500 homes, the Canadian Press reported. The largest fire lit by Paré consumed nearly 873 hectares of forest.

Fire officials investigated a string of five blazes in June that had no possible natural cause and broke out days after the province had implemented a fire ban. The 38-year-old Paré quickly became a suspect when he was spotted in the location of the fires and “demonstrated a certain interest in fires” after an interview with police, said Charron.

In June police began watching his social media posts, which frequently focused on the province’s wildfires. He shared content suggesting the record-breaking fire season was the result of government intervention, not climate change. The prosecution said police specialists developed a suspect profile based on the fires – and increasingly, Paré’s seemed a match.

Police later obtained a warrant to install a tracking device on Paré’s vehicle and found he travelled to locations where other fires were started.

After he was arrested in September, he admitted to starting nine fires and “claimed he was doing tests to find out whether the forest was really dry or not”, Charron told the court.

Despite a string of conspiratorial theories over the summer, amplified by Alberta’s premier, nearly all of Canada’s fires were caused by lightning striking the tinder-like condition of forests.

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