How the L.A. Arsonist Was Caught
For a few days over the long New Year’s weekend, it looked as though someone was determined to burn down the entire city of Los Angeles, building by building and car by car. And for just as many days, it looked as though he might eventually pull it off, so flummoxed were firefighters and police at the number and apparent randomness of the attacks.
Beginning in the early morning hours of December 29 and continuing until the early morning of January 2, more than 50 fires were set in the Los Angeles area, most of them in and around Hollywood but with some occurring over the hill and far out into the San Fernando Valley. Most of the fires began with cars torched in carports and garages, but many of the blazes spread to homes and apartment buildings. No one was seriously injured but scores were made homeless and many others lost their cars. With most of the fires set in the dead of night, the attacks were all the more disquieting.
A crime spree like this one has the potential to bring a city to its knees, so the LAPD mobilized every asset at its disposal to bring it to a stop. With the exception of some serial-killer investigations, I’ve never in my long career seen as much investigative weight thrown into a case. Most of the LAPD’s detectives were scheduled to be off over the weekend, yet dozens of them from all over the city canceled their holiday plans so as to field tips from the public and follow up on any that looked promising. Yet for all of the information that flowed in, there was nothing that pointed police toward any one suspect. On New Year’s Eve in Hollywood, a night when even in ordinary circumstances things tend to get crazy, the usual heavy deployment of officers was supplemented by uniformed and undercover officers sent in from other parts of town. With no identified suspect to look for, without even a description of one, officers drove the streets hoping to get lucky.
But at that point all the luck was still with the arsonist. Between three in the afternoon and eight in the evening, ten fires were set in and around Hollywood, this despite the many cops searching the very neighborhoods where the fires were set. So numerous were the undercover cops, in fact, that their scruffy appearance sometimes attracted the attention of uniformed officers who believed them to be possible suspects. At other times, undercover cops focused on each other, making for some potentially dangerous encounters.
Did no one looked for a Chechnyian Muslim freshly arrived from Germany in a series of arson attacks? Good homeland security.
Mirco, if you’re looking for people from “that part of the world,” I invite your attention to the fact that the arrest was made by Reserve Deputy Shervin Lalezary, an Iranian born U. S. citizen.
and why pray tell did he leave Iran !
Maybe because he was too young to stay behind when his parents emigrated, or…..?
Yes, and if you want to fight these kind of battles FOREVER, continue to overlook Islam as the source of this chaotic activity. Until one day there will be nothing but chaos and lawlessness. Look no further than Europe, where Islam is poised to dominate that part of the world.
The majority of Americans hold to law and order but Islam will destroy this and more
You’re assuming facts not in evidence.
I could imagine a dedicated group of terrorists (of some unidentified sort) organizing a fire campaign citywide. If they are smart enough to dress for the place they are moving around, they would be able to act mainly undetected apart for the occasional hit of misfortune.
I seem to remember a few years back (in the Bush admin) that there were an enormous number of fires set in woodlands and parks out West and no one ever caught who started most of them.
I also remember that a number of people came forward to claim that they had tried to report they’d seen “Middle-Eastern-looking” males in close proximity to the locations where many of these fires started but were rebuffed by Federal agencies and that no one had ever continued to investigate the arson(s) who set these fires.
Wow. Most CA wildfire cases over the years have been solved, but don’t let mundane facts interrupt your fascinating theory.
Great story Jack, thanks.
I was appreciative of the LAPD for catching the bad guy so quickly — thinking to myself, “that will show backwards terrorists from various sand boxes what they’re messing with in the techno 21st Century” — until it became apparent that *this* bad guy is both mentally deficient and nuts. In other words, the massed police bureaucracy of one of the world’s largest cities took four days to find a mentally deficient *and* deranged fire bug. *sigh*
“The trouble is that he’s crazy, and you, not being crazy, can’t think like him. That can give him an advantage sometimes, sort of like a left-handed knife fighter.”
-Otto Harkaman to Lucas Trask, re Andray Dunnan, in “Space Viking” by H. Beam Piper (1963)
In real life, consider the case of Theodore Kaczynski, aka the “Unabomber”. Genius-level IQ, anti-technology fanatic, and hermit. He evaded the authorities for almost two decades while setting bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others. His manifesto is a screed against technology that makes no sense whatever (boiling down to “back to mud huts to save the Earth- or else”), but this idee’ fixe didn’t stop him from being lethally dangerous- and smart enough not to get caught for a very long time.
Serial killers fall into the same category. I defy anyone to define the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, John Gacy, Ted Bundy, the BTK Killer, etc., as anything but bat(guano) (bleep)ing insane- but they were all more than smart enough to develop methods of operation (“M.O” in copspeak) that kept them on the loose for years. Most got caught because they made a mistake. Historically, some were smart enough to never get caught, and we only know of their crimes due to the evidence found after the fact (cf “Bela Kiss”).
As Joseph T. Major said of Dunnan in his analysis of “Space Viking”;
http://members.iglou.com/jtmajor/Viking.htm
“Paranoids can plan… (and) mental illness is no respecter of intelligence(.)”
Crazy does not equal stupid. Unfortunately.
clear ether
eon
The “backwards terrorists from various sand boxes” are “mentally deficient” like the massed police bureaucracy of one of the world biggest city.
The security the bureaucracy is able to deliver is pretty rubbish as anything a bureaucracy deliver in the long run.
Lesson from the story: more social programs needed!
Didn’t their home in Germany also have a fire? I think there are more chapters to this story.
hollywood arsonist………………. my neighbor’s step-sister makes $87 an hour on the laptop. She has been fired for 10 months but last month her income was $7879 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more here… m a k e c a s h 4 . com
I wonder if someone out there is really stupid enough to go to the effort to type in the address andria spammed and THEN to send them money. I guess someone is or they wouldn’t do it.
BTW, andria, my neighbor’s cousin’s, best friend’s acquitance’s sister think you and your ilk are roaches. So do I.
Only someone who is a sucker, either losing money to a scammer or an accomplice to a scammer who the scammer will leave exposed to the police. Why protect the accomplice? There’s many more of them out there.
$7,879 Poo! That is nothing. I am going to make MILLIONS straightening out banking problems for the sons late Nigerian ministers.
Hey, wait a minute…I already took that job!!!
8 Million, just this morning there was an ACH error when someone tried to deposit 8 MILLION into my bank account… hang on folks I’m joining the 1% HA HA HA HA HA
Poo to you also….I plan on being a congressman next time around, and Making untold millions…..I mean selling my mama if it is necessary….I will shakedown businesses, insider trades, tips, use any strong arm tactic necssary to leave the house, say 4 years later, filthy rich….Robbing you peons, paying out your money, well it is no longer yours, i`ll see to that…. to so called do some pork buz. and shaking down the receiptent of the pork…..and not a soul in this land can touch me….haahahahahahahah…I will hide behind every plant and bush in DC….stealing you blind….All legal….SAPS
As lifelong east-coaster I had to look up what a “reserve” Sheriff’s deputy is, and I was surprised it meant a volunteer sworn law enforcement officer.
Volunteer and mixed volunteer/paid fire and EMS are fairly prevalent in small to medium burghs out east, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a deparment that has volunteer cops.
I have to say I’m amazed that one of America’s biggest cities has a Sheriff’s department with hundreds of actively serving, fully trained & sworn-in volunteer deputies.
Pretty neat, and good for them.
In a better, more just and verdant world, all honest and able bodied men (and quite a few honest and able bodies women) would be legally considered sworn law enforcement officers, due to the terms of Title 10, Section 311 making them part of the militia.
It could make the crime rate go way down.
Reserve deputies are, or were, common in Georgia.
Anonymous, that’s the way we started law enforcement in this country. No organized police departments till New York in the 1840′s . Just law abiding citizens backing up county sheriffs. Works pretty well if you have a honest citizenry that is willing to stand up to the miscreants.
Also read: LA arsonist, cultural enrichment after all? http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/01/la-arsonist-cultural-enrichment-after.html
Considering the amount of pooh that the Fed,State,County, and municipal parasites rain down on the LAPD, I’m surprised that they haven’t retired on the job like police forces in some other cities have who have been sold out by the establishment.
I like to read about standard police work succeeding as opposed to the rash of messed up swat raids that have been taking place.
I’m also getting the idea from anecdotal reports that the general populace is getting tired of illegal immigrants with criminal intent and the paper pushers that foment and tolerate their entry and life style.
Canada seems to be particularly egregarious in welcoming in all the world’s different sorts of scum, letting them hang around for a bit, and then turning a blind eye as they slither on into the U.S. Mexico, on the other hand, has turned aiding and abetting terrorists across the border into a lucrative little side business. It’s just galling sometimes that Canada is so holier-than-thou about being warm and caring humanitarians, when what they are in actuality is terrorist fruitcake enablers.
Is it possible that Los Angeles was pulling out all the stops to find this guy, not only because of the egregiousness of the crimes but because they were desperately wanting to pin it on a right-wing extremist? Remember the rhetoric that flew fast and furious about the Tucson massacre as well as every time there’s a crime-spree, the media openly speculates that it’s some “right wing nut”. It never is and the media once again goes silent about it as they have since this arsonist freak-show has been caught. Doesn’t fit their template so nothing to see here. Real reporting, all the time. Phagh!
No. No chance.
“the man’s movements through the complex seemed odd and out of place”. This is called “profiling”; good police officers are observers of human behavior. When something seems out of place or unusual, they take a closer look.
This is the same method the Isaeli’s use to keep their transportation centers safe; they don’t search everyone, but look for people who seem “odd and out of place” or are acting strangely.
Forget what Hollywood shows in “cop” movies, this was EXCELLENT investigatory work by the LAPD, U.S. Marshalls, State Dept, and security camera monitors. This is how it’s REALLY done!
“Driving around trying to get lucky” doesn’t seem like a cost effective plan.
By contrast “Honest Citizen, armed and trained, doing what he normally does, while maintaining situation awareness” would seem to be very cost effective.
Waiting around while the city goes up in flames isn’t cost effective either. When you’re desperate enough it’s worth trying low probability efforts; it was hardly out of the question they’d get lucky and find him this way. Or change his behavior in a useful way.
thank you for sharing with us. It is fascinating, all the details.
Actually, after filing three years of motions to delay while incustody, he’ll probably cop a plea, do 15 months in CDC, and get deported. CDC can’t afford to provide the health care to the demanding standards of the 9th circuit.
Hollywood will more than likely present Harry and his mom acadamy awards in
March. She will have to get Susan Sarandon to accept hers as she will be incarcerated in Germany. The ACLU will get Harry a reprieve on the fact he was arrested by an Iranian born American Citizen and call for the arrest of everyone whose unit or auto got torched by the real Nazis of this Planet.
Steven Spielburg will make the movie ….
“It’s OK to Torch Jews If You Are From Germany” A sequel to his “It’s Ok to kill Israelis if you are a Palestinian”.
American Christian Infidel
Michael Canzano
Anticipated defense tactic: “How dare you pick on this illegal alien!”
Another traffic stop: “Officer, before you get started, I point out that I am an illegal alien and all the weapons in the trunk have magazines that hold less than 10 rounds.” Officer: “Damn it! Well, just move along then…. Wait, is that a carton of un-Pasteurized milk in the back seat?” (unholstering weapon) “Freeze! Keep your hands where I can see them! You are in major trouble Mister!”
“I’ve never in my long career seen as much investigative weight thrown into a case.”
If I was a cynical sort of fellow, I’d say it was because this guy was damaging the property of the ober-rich, hence the heightened concern.
If all he was doing was carrying out drive-bys in South Central, it probably wouldn’t have excited so much interest amongst the higher-ups in Los Angeles’ government.
If your own car caught fire while parked at night, and the fire spread to your house, you’d have a different viewpoint. These were mostly normal citizens who were victimized. The uber-rich live in gated communities. It was the volume of cases at one time that overwhelmed.
“If your own car caught fire while parked at night, and the fire spread to your house, you’d have a different viewpoint.”
Something tells me that wouldn’t make me any less cynical.
Why Ronald Reagan would STRONGLY OPPOSE the candidacy of Ron Paul
If he were alive today, Ronald Reagan would STRONGLY OPPOSE Ron Paul. Reagan believed in spending generously on our national defense and certainly had an interventionist foreign policy. And according to the Ron ”The Nutjob” Paul’s playbook, that would make the greatest president of my era ”a neocon”. Their policies and beliefs are totally and completely different.
http://www.redstate.com/mikeymike143/2011/09/08/why-ronald-reagan-would-strongly-oppose-the-candidacy-of-ron-paul/
Obsessed with RP Mikey? RR actually was as much a libertarian as he was a Conservative…WTH are you besides a RedState thug?
You’re in for a surprise, buddy, the CDC spends a butt load on health care for inmates,
because it is federally mandated.
A dialysis is contracted out to private clinics, cost is $3,000 per dialysis, most inmates
who receive this treatment do so three times a week, and there are plenty.
An ACL knee surgery costs $20,000, a fake eye and eye surgery is the same price, contracted
to clinics.
If you’re in for life, you don’t need these medical treatments, but they get it and we pay.
I suggest you contact your state reps and federal senators, because this is crap!
1. Hollywood is not the glamorous place one expects now; not what you’d think. People who work hard and want to make it in the Industry live here, as well as many poor people. There are a few super expensive high-rises, but this guy attacked the unprotected parking lots for ordinary apts. of hard-working people. Same in North Hollywood over the hill, where it’s a bit cheaper.
2. Where did the idea that they are muslim come from?
3. The Hollywood shooter on Sunset & Vine shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as he shot, according to a televised witness. No one has researched this at all. All’s quiet about his so-called “humanitarian” activites and drugs.
Mr. Dunphy,
I am a big fan of your column but I have to take acception with the way you characterize the Reserve Sheriff Deputy who made the hook as if “wo would ever imagine a Sheriff Deputy making the arrest, but a Reserve?? Reserve Deputies go through the same application process, Academy and training as the full time Deputies, just like on the LAPD so why all the surprise? Certainly you aren’t suggesting that the LAPD is a better law enforcement agency than the Sheriff Department are you?
I don’t know about you guys, but this little story
tells me that we can get rid of police and fire unions
then lower their pay and just get more of these good,
solid, moral volunteer police officers or deputies,
who will do the job not for OT or a big pension, civil
service job security, workers’ comp heaven, etc. but
because he knows citizens need to police their own
community.
More than half of firefighters in this country are volunteers,
like this deputy, there is no excuse why we can’t get more
of these volunteers who work for free and do very well
protecting their own community,
compare that to hiring high school grads, unionize them,
pay them more than they should be making, on top of that
a lucrative pension. Thank you taxpayers.
So much money is wasted on police, fire and corrections,
when we can pay them little or no pay at all, since there
are more than enough who can do this work simply by
volunteering or thru the explorers program.