A person was arrested on suspicion of arson after authorities mentioned he set fireplace to flags in entrance of a number of houses in East Lengthy Seaside.
John Leo Meylor, 35, of Laguna Niguel, was booked Thursday into the Lengthy Seaside Metropolis Jail on 13 counts of arson, one depend of arson to an inhabited construction and one depend of parole violation, Lengthy Seaside Police Division spokesperson Richard Mejia mentioned.
No bail was set due to the parole violation, Mejia mentioned.
No accidents have been reported from the fires. A automobile and the surface of a house have been broken, authorities mentioned.
The primary report got here in round 3:30 a.m. Thursday a couple of car fireplace within the 2800 block of Iroquois Avenue, mentioned Capt. Jack Crabtree, a spokesperson for the Lengthy Seaside Hearth Division. The automobile was in flames after a flag hanging over the driveway the place it was parked was set ablaze and fell onto the canvas convertible prime.
As fireplace personnel have been extinguishing that blaze, calls got here in reporting fires outdoors different houses, Crabtree mentioned.
Safety digital camera footage obtained by the Lengthy Seaside Submit exhibits a person sporting a black jacket, grey ski cap and headphones strolling as much as one house in the dead of night and utilizing what seems to be a lighter to ignite the nook of a U.S. flag hanging in entrance.
Crabtree declined to say what number of calls have been fielded, citing the continued investigation.
A number of fires had gone out by the point firefighters arrived. Hearth personnel extinguished others, Crabtree mentioned, noting that the blazes have been according to torched flags. Some have been U.S. flags; others have been burned past recognition, he mentioned.
A tipster’s name led authorities to Meylor, they mentioned.
He was arrested after police responded to a hearth help name round 2:30 p.m. Thursday within the 2900 block of Studebaker Highway, Mejia mentioned. Meylor had already been detained by fireplace personnel and park rangers when officers arrived.
As of Friday, no costs had been filed in opposition to Meylor, in response to the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace.
