$170,000 Reward Announced in LA Arson Case
A Los Angeles City Council member, LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas, and representatives of ATF and the L.A. Police Department held a news conference Jan. 21 to announce the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for last month's Da Vinci Apartments fire.
A month after officials from the Los Angeles police and fire departments and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declared that arson was the cause of the giant Dec. 8, 2014, fire at the city's Da Vinci Apartments complex, officials held a news conference Jan. 21 to announce an award is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas joined City Councilmember Jose Huizar and representatives from the police department and ATF to announce the reward. ATF's National Response Team participated in the investigation. The fire caused between $25 million and $30 million in damage to the apartments under construction and two adjacent high-rise office towers, according to LAFD.
During the news conference, Terrazas said it was one of the largest structure fires the department has fought in a generation, causing his department to commit more than one-third of its on-duty personnel to fight the fire.
He added that whoever was responsible for the fire exposed more than 250 LAFD firefighters to great peril as they fought an extremely hot fire that stretched an entire block and caused significant damage to the adjacent high rises. He asked that anyone with information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fire to contact the LAFD Arson Section at 213-893-9850, according to the report posted by Erik Scott, an LAFD spokesman.
The Los Angeles Times’ reporter Veronica Rocha reported Jan. 21 that the reward was raised to $170,000 after Councilman Huizar proposed a $75,000 reward that needs L.A. City Council approval, the owner of the Da Vinci property matched that $75,000 reward, and ATF offered an additional $20,000.