Furious Los Angeles residents who survived the deadly wildfires chased down and apprehended a man who they say sparked another blaze near their homes.
The residents of Chatsworth, California were caught on camera chasing a man – who was later identified as 41-year-old Alejandro Martinez – down a mountainous road in their vehicles on Monday.
One man was also seen following Martinez on foot, eventually catching up to the firebug and pushing him to the ground.
‘Wrong neighborhood buddy! Wrong neighborhood,’ a bystander then tells him.
By the time Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, Martinez was lying in a prone position to surrender himself to the authorities, who quickly handcuffed him and escorted him into the back of a police vehicle.
But he could be heard protesting in Spanish, ‘I haven’t stolen anything, seriously,’ Fox 11 reports.
Stolen property, however, was not what the residents were concerned about.
They instead told officers they saw Martinez – who was wearing black and hiding in the brush – start a fire at around 4.30pm on Woolsey Canyon Road, and followed him as he tried to flee the scene.
Residents of Chatsworth, California were caught on camera chasing alleged arsonist 41-year-old Alejandro Martinez down a mountainous road in their vehicles on Monday
By the time Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, Martinez was lying in a prone position to surrender himself to the authorities
He was then handcuffed and led into the back of a police vehicle
Meanwhile, the fire Martinez allegedly ignited grew to around 100 square feet in size before it was extinguished by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to KTLA.
‘Thank God there were no strong winds, because it could have gone much worse,’ videographer Gabe Cortez told the Los Angeles Times in the aftermath.
‘Given all the recent fires, communities and people are just so much more aware of these types of things now and they’re on high alert.’
Brandon Taylor, a photographer with Traffic News LA who recorded the incident, added that the ‘residents were furious.’
‘They’ve gone through the Woolsey Fire, which started just a mile from there,’ he explained. ‘With the dry vegetation, they were really concerned about him starting another fire and losing their homes.’
The deadly infernos, which are now mostly contained, burned through more than 57,000 acres in Southern California, killing 29 people and destroying more than 16,000 homes and businesses last month.
Investigators are still working to determine what may have caused the fires, with some suggesting it may have been the work of arsonists.
‘We had numerous fires in the LA County region almost simultaneously, which leads us to believe that these fires were intentionally set by a person,’ LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told BBC, adding that about half of the brush fires he responds to were intentionally set.
Residents said they had earlier spotted Martinez – who was wearing black and hiding in the brush – start a fire at around 4.30pm on Woolsey Canyon Road
Investigators are still working to determine what caused the massive wildfires last month
The deadly infernos, which are now mostly contained, burned through more than 57,000 acres in Southern California
At least eight people have already been arrested in connection with starting the recent fires, according to CNN.
Martinez now joins the growing list as he was due to appear in court on Wednesday.
He was being held on a $75,000 bail, and the LA Times reports that there was a warrant out for his arrest at the time the brave civilians detained him – though it is unclear what the warrant was for.
His day in court came as California Gov. Gavin Newsom was scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump to discuss whether residents will receive any federal aid after State Farm General asked the state government to approve emergency price hikes to its insurance policies.
The company sent a four-page letter to the California Department of Insurance on Monday pleading with regulators to allow an average rate increase of 22 percent for homeowners.
They destroyed 16,000 homes and businesses, prompting State Farm General to petition the state government to approve emergency price hikes to its insurance policies
State Farm, a California-based subsidiary of the much larger State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, also wants to be able to slap condo owners and renters with a 15 percent increase.
Those who rent out units to tenants should be hit with a 38 percent increase, according to the letter, which was signed by top-level executives at the company including CEO Dan Krause.
‘We are requesting that you take emergency action to help protect California’s fragile insurance market by immediately approving interim rate increases…with rates to be effective May 1, 2025,’ the letter read.
State Farm General justified this by saying it had received more than 8,700 claims related to the wildfires as of February 1 and has now paid over $1billion to customers as a result.