Suspect Arrested Near Kenneth Fire Won't Be Charged with Arson Due to Lack of Probable Cause: Police

Mar. 15, 2025

Kenneth Fire in West Hills on Jan. 9, 2025.Photo:AP Photo/Ethan Swope

AP Photo/Ethan Swope

Update: At a press conference on Friday, Jan. 10, Dominic Choi, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said there was “not enough probable cause to arrest [the suspect] on arson or suspicion of arson.”

Instead, said Choi, the suspect was a arrested on a felony probation violation.

Police took a suspect into custody on Thursday, Jan. 9, in Los Angeles after a witness said a person was trying to light a fire, but police say no connection to any of the wildfires is confirmed.

The suspect, who has not been named, was apprehended after a call came in at 4:32 p.m. for a “possible arson suspect” on the 21700 block of Ybarra Road, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

According to the LAPD, “A male was heard stating a suspect was ‘attempting to light a fire.'”

The apprehension took place near the Kenneth Fire, a rapidly spreading blaze that has already burned 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and forced evacuations.

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PEOPLE has reached out to Dinse for comment.

The Kenneth fire is just one of at least a half dozen major fires that have ravaged the Southland since Tuesday, forcing over 100,000 evacuations

Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

source: people.com