A 42-year-old transient from West Covina was behind bars Friday night, suspected of setting a number of fires in restaurant restrooms in the Walnut, Rowland Heights area.
The investigation began Jan. 29, when detectives were called to investigate two fires that had been set -- one at L&L Hawaiian BBQ, the other at Office Depot, officials said.
Then on Tuesday, Feb, 2, a third restroom fire broke out at a McDonald’s restaurant.
Detectives gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses; meanwhile Arson/Explosives Detail detectives briefed Walnut station deputies and detectives and provided them with a suspect description and surveillance photos from the various arson fires, officials said.
That afternoon, another arson fire was reported in the bathroom of a Del Taco in Walnut and later, a third at the Tea House in Walnut.
Detectives and deputies determined the fires were set by the same person and acquired surveillance images. a license plate number and a name, officials said.
AED detectives were able to quickly match the suspect’s photo to the suspect depicted in the surveillance photos and provided the information to patrol deputies, who saturated the area, officials said.
Within an hour, patrol deputies found the suspect vehicle -- and a short pursuit of the vehicle and its driver ensued.
The suspect was cornered in a Rowland Heights parking lot where he was detained and taken to the Walnut station for questioning.
The suspect allegedly admitted to being present at the scene of all the fires; however, he denied setting any of the fires.
Detectives helping deputies with the collection of evidence and documentation of the fire scenes recovered evidence in the suspect’s vehicle linking him to the fires, officials said.
Lin remained behind bars in lieu of $250,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing Feb. 19.
Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Arson/Explosives Detail at (323) 881-7500.
Information can be provided anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus the tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
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