LA Arson Suspect ID’d – Was In Dispute With Immigration Officials

The LA Times reports:

Los Angeles police on Monday afternoon booked a 24-year-old man on suspicion of arson after an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy detained him in connection with a string of more than 50 deliberately set fires

Booking records identified the man as Harry Burkhart, a Hollywood area resident. He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown L.A.

No new arsons have been reported since the suspect was taken into custody, but police stressed that the investigation was ongoing.

The fires have caused $2 million in damage, authorities said.

MAP: Arson fires

At a news conference Monday, officials said the arson task force is sifting through about 100 clues in the case.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said : “I feel very good that we’ve got the right guy. [The suspect] had the right stuff in his van, and we are confident in the arrest.”

According to law enforcement sources, Burkhart has been involved in a dispute with federal immigration officials.

PHOTOS: Arson fires

Burkhart appears to have been battling the U.S. government over the immigration status of his mother.

The Los Angeles Police Department is in communication with federal immigration officials concerning the dispute, the law enforcement sources said.

LAPD detectives found materials inside Burkhart’s minivan that could have been used to set fires, the sources said. All of the sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

In this Inside Edition report, he was reported as a German who was angry that his mother was being deported.

Kudos to the Right-Wing blogosphere for showing such restraint as this story unfolded, unlike the left, who nearly a year ago, tripped over themselves to blame tea party conservatives for the Tucson massacre. Because it would have been very easy to point fingers, and just as wrong.

UPDATE:

The Daily Mail: ‘I hate America’, says German ‘prime suspect’ in Hollywood arson case whose mother faced being deported

Detained: Harry Burkhart, 24, was booked for investigation of arson of an inhabited dwelling and was being held without bail, authorities said

Quick, someone tell Burkhart about the White House’s new toll free hotline set up “to ensure that detainees held by local police are informed of their rights.”

The toll-free number, (855) 448-6903, will field queries from detainees held by state or local law enforcement agencies if the detainees “believe they may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a statement.

Linked by Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, thanks.