Good Samaritan makes citizen’s arrest of arson suspect

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From KTLA:

A suspected arsonist accused of setting a series of fires in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Center [in Los Angeles] was taken into custody on Monday after a Good Samaritan said he saw the man lighting the fires and stepped in.

That Good Samaritan sprang into action and tackled the man.

arsonist caughtThe suspect was arrested after Richard Lazenby took him down to the ground and held him there until officers arrived. Part of that confrontation was caught on camera.

“I yell at him, like, ‘what are you doing?” Lazenby said. “And he says, ‘I’m destroying everything.'”

Lazenby was driving home from Easter Sunday church service with his family when he saw brush fires burning along Sepulveda Boulevard. He then saw the suspect lighting another fire, and blocked the man with his vehicle.

“So I get out of the car, and my goal was to take him down at that point,” Lazenby said.

Wearing his Sunday best, Lazenby took the suspect to the ground and pinned him.

“Wrestled with him in the street, tumbled over into the weeds, got on top of him, pinned him down with his arms,” Lazenby said.

Lazenby’s wife was recording as their children looked on, at first with fear, then with pride.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

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