The Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Arson Unit Task Force have made a third arrest relating to multiple fires recently in the Belmont Shore and Naples areas of Long Beach.
“Over the last few weeks, the [LBFD] Fire Investigations Team and the [ATF] Arson Unit Task Force have been working diligently following up with various leads relating to a string of fires in the Belmont Shore and Naples area of Long Beach, California,” the press release states.
On Saturday, June 16, two arrests were made in connection to the fires, including a fire that occurred at Naples Elementary School in which damage was sustained to an exterior classroom. Two suspects were arrested and taken into custody. The arrested suspects include a 14-year-old male juvenile from east Long Beach and a 14-year-old male juvenile from Naples Island. Both suspects were booked into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.
On Tuesday, June 19, an additional arrest was made in connection to the fires. The third suspect is another 14-year-old male juvenile from Naples Island. He was also booked into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. As additional warrants were served, the information collected linked all three suspects to fires that included the June 12 third-alarm fire at Dogz Bar and Grill, where a firefighter sustained second-degree burns to both hands.
The five fires that the three suspects were charged with include: three trash fires with one fire that damaged a fence, one palm tree fire, and the fire at Dogz Bar and Grill, where conservative damage estimates are at $160,000, according to the LBFD. The investigation into the connection to the sixth fire that occurred at Naples Elementary School is ongoing.
Regarding cause, all six of the fires are listed as incendiary and were deliberately set between June 12 and June 16, according to LBFD officials .
This investigation, which includes making connections between each of the fires, is ongoing.
Those with information about any of the fires occurring in or around the Belmont Shore and Naples area of Long Beach are asked to contact Long Beach Fire investigators at (562) 570-2582.
Source: LBFD
