A man has been arrested after firefighters caught him ‘actively lighting fires’ in Los Angeles county, it has emerged.
Ruben Montes, 29, was arrested for arson on Sunday in Irwindale, California, roughly 16 miles away from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.
Firefighters were responding to a small brush fire in Irwindale when they witnessed Montes starting blazes in the area, police have confirmed.
He was detained by officers at the scene and ultimately arrested for arson. Details surrounding the incident are limited and police have not revealed where Montes was booked.
Police have also not revealed if Montes was responsible for starting the brush fire or if any of the blazes that he allegedly lit have caused damage. It is also unclear if he has any ties to the other fires ravaging LA.
His arrest comes just days after an illegal immigrant was detained for allegedly setting a fire in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
The catastrophic Los Angeles fires have killed 24 people and burned more than 40,000 acres. Firefighters are currently working to contain three active blazes in the Los Angeles area and officials warn that Tuesday’s forecasted 70mph wind gusts could cause ‘explosive fire growth’.
Flames have forced some 150,000 people to evacuate and reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, leveling the homes of the rich and famous and ordinary folk alike, and leaving an apocalyptic landscape.
One witness later recounted that Sierra-Leyva was ‘very focused on moving forward with the blow torch’, telling FOX 11 the suspect said: ‘I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this.’
Renata Grinshpun also recalled how the community ‘really banded together as a group’. She told KTLA: ‘A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope and we were able to do a citizen’s arrest.’
Once an officer approached, the three men who intervened could be seen pointing out the suspect to the police officer, who proceeds to take the suspect into custody.
Police officers said at the time the suspect was taken to the Topanga police station after being restrained for ‘about 20 to 30 minutes.’
Sources also told DailyMail.com that a resident called 911 to report a male attempting to set a fire at the 21700 block of Ybarra road at around 4.30pm Thursday.
But officials later said they lacked the probable cause to arrest him on arson charges and instead arrested him on a probation violation.
‘After the interview and additional investigative steps, looking at some additional evidence that was present, they made the determination that there was not enough probable cause to arrest this person on arson or suspicion of arson,’ LA Police Department Divisional Chief Dominic Choi said, according to the Daily Wire.
They said the investigation was ‘ongoing.’ Sierra-Leyva is due back in court Monday.
In the meantime, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to place a detainer request on Sierra-Leyva, but they do not expect it to be honored due to California’s sanctuary state law, Bill Melugin reports.
Yet the detainer request comes as three fires continue to burn through 40,000 acres across the most affluent neighborhoods in LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.