Thread: Homeless Nigerian arrested in deadly fire north of L.A.

Homeless Nigerian arrested in deadly fire north of L.A.

Transient arrested in fire probe

By THOMAS WATKINS, The Associated Press
4:20 p.m. October 19, 2009

LOS ANGELES — A homeless man was arrested and charged with arson for starting a tiny blaze near the spot where a gigantic wildfire erupted in August and went on to kill two firefighters, homicide detectives said Monday.

Babatunsin Olukunle, 25, is the strongest lead to date in the arson investigation stemming from a fire that destroyed 89 homes, burned 250 square miles of national forest and killed two firefighters when their truck plunged off a road. It was one of the largest fires in Southern California history.

The Nigerian man was arrested Thursday and charged Monday with one felony count of recklessly causing a fire. Authorities said he started a fire that charred an area about the size of a table top on Aug. 20 and was quickly extinguished by two U.S. Forest Service workers who happened to be passing and spotted smoke.

The small fire burned off the side of the Angeles Crest Highway, a mountain road northeast of Los Angeles. Six days later and six miles down the same road, the devastating Station Fire broke out.

Authorities stopped short of calling Olukunle a suspect in the fire, though Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher said he was the "best lead."

"I can't put him as a suspect, we don't have enough evidence at this time," Gallagher said.

Olukunle was due to be arraigned later Monday. It was not clear if he had been assigned an attorney.

Stan Goldman, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said it appeared that the homicide detectives investigating Station Fire considered Olukunle to be a person of interest in that blaze.

"Why would homicide be interested in investigating someone for starting a fire in which no one died, " Goldman said. "There is no point in them going out to arrest someone unless they think he is involved in a homicide."

The two Forest Service workers who put out the small blaze saw Olukunle walking into the forest and away from the fire. He was a familiar sight to users of the road and had been seen pushing a cart filled with recyclables up the steep road.

He was arrested in Lancaster when two patrol deputies spotted him walking down a street carrying a bag of aluminum cans.

Olukunle, who dropped out of the University of California, Davis, in 2004, told detectives he'd been sleeping in the mountains.

"He seems rational, understands everything," Gallagher said. "He's quite articulate and appears smart, he just has gone to a different lifestyle."

Detectives questioned Olukunle about the Station Fire but Gallagher said he would not give any details about what was discussed.

His family emigrated from Nigeria in 1999.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=185417

Odd how they ignore the known migrant camps and pick up this man, isn't it?

Is this guy here legally? If so, on what visa?

Additional info:

Homeless man wanted for questioning in Station fire

The 25-year-old Nigerian national was reportedly seen tending a small blaze about six days before the Station fire started in the same area.

Fire authorities would like to question Babatunsin Olukunle, 25, a Nigerian national.

October 13, 2009

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives hope to question a man who was spotted tending a small fire in the vicinity of the Station fire almost one week before that deadly blaze erupted in the Angeles National Forest.

At a news conference Monday, homicide detectives requested the public's help in locating a 25-year-old homeless man who was caught "feeding" a small, uncontrolled fire in the early afternoon of Aug. 20 -- six days before the start of the devastating Station fire.

The man, Babatunsin Olukunle, a Nigerian national, was reportedly caught tending the small fire near mile marker 36 of the Angeles Crest Highway. The two U.S. Forest Service employees who spotted him ordered Olukunle to stay put while they extinguished the fire.

But Olukunle slipped into the woods, and now investigators hope to question him, according to Sheriff's Det. Todd Anderson.

Authorities say they have no evidence linking Olukunle to the Station fire. However, authorities said, investigators would be "negligent" if they did not talk to him because the site of the Lady Bug fire -- the name they're calling the blaze that Olukunle was reportedly seen tending -- was about six miles from the Station fire's ignition point.

The Station fire started Aug. 26 near a ranger station north of La Cañada Flintridge and became the largest brush fire in L.A. County history. Investigators say the blaze was probably the work of an arsonist and that the culprit should be held to blame for the deaths of two firefighters during the blaze. The county and the state have offered a $150,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the matter.

Investigators believe a substance found near the fire's point of origin helped spread the blaze. It has emerged as a key piece of evidence in the arson probe, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the investigation. The source declined to identify the substance.

Investigators stressed that Olukunle is wanted only for questioning. Sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher said detectives want to "see what he knows" about the Station fire.

Olukunle's family has told investigators that he came home from UC Davis for summer break in 2007, began acting strangely and disappeared in July.

"They've been looking for him for two years," Gallagher said.

Gallagher said Olukunle was arrested in November 2007 in Redondo Beach for "illegal camping" and that in April of this year he was placed on a 72-hour mental-observation hold by authorities in Crescenta Valley.

Olukunle had been seen pushing a makeshift cart on Angeles Crest Highway and carrying bags of recyclables, Gallagher said. Occasionally he was seen on a blue bicycle.

He was seen in the Lancaster area until a week and a half ago, Gallagher said.

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

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