A man was arrested Friday in Azusa, a city just east of Pasadena that is the site of one of LA’s largest fires. Police claim he may have tried to start another fire.
Azusa PD tells TMZ … officers were dispatched to a local park just before midnight in reference to a wildfire – where they claim a witness told them the man who started the fire was still on scene.
Officers found the suspect, called a “transient.” Jose Carranza Escobar – which they claim started the fire. Police then arrested Carranza-Escobar.
Los Angeles County firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire — and several other government agencies are now assessing the extent of damage caused by the blaze.
Police have a “zero tolerance” policy for incidents like this… so it looks like they’re planning to bring down the hammer on people who are allegedly setting fires in the area.
In fact, the LA County District Attorney’s Office has already assigned a prosecutor from the arson unit to the case… and police tell us the evidence will be presented for possible charges as soon as possible on Monday.
Azusa is located about 16 miles east of Altadena… the city destroyed by the Eaton Fire – a major blaze in northeast LA that has burned more than 40,000 acres. It’s the second largest to erupt in LA this week – about 10,000 acres smaller than the Pacific Palisades wildfire in West LA