Suspect Freed in Arson Blaze at Restaurant

Saying they have insufficient evidence for a conviction, prosecutors dropped murder and arson charges Friday against a night janitor who had been accused of setting a fire at the Proud Bird restaurant that left one firemen dead and four others injured.

The charges against Jose Jesus Davila, 19, were dismissed by Los Angeles Municipal Judge George W. Trammell at the prosecution’s request as a preliminary hearing for Davila was about to begin.

“Based on our continuing investigation, we concluded that there is insufficient evidence at this time to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. John W. Ouderkirk, who heads the unit that prosecutes crimes against peace officers.

Ouderkirk said authorities now believe that others may have been involved in setting the fire, which caused more than $1 million damage and killed firefighter Benjamin Pinel. The blaze broke out early last Dec. 4 at the restaurant at 10011 Aviation Blvd., which overlooks Los Angeles International Airport.

Davila, who had been held without bail since his arrest on Dec. 7, was released Friday.

It was not known if he was turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which had won a court order for Davila’s deportation as an illegal alien moments before he was arrested in the arson case.

Following his arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department released a statement saying Davila was the last person known to have been in the restaurant before the fire broke out.

But Ouderkirk said investigators have since turned up evidence indicating that others may have been at the restaurant that morning. He refused to provide further details or to say if he believes that Davila is innocent of the crime.

Davila was arrested, Ouderkirk said, after he gave conflicting statements about his whereabouts and activities at the time of the fire.

The investigation of the fire by Los Angeles police and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is continuing, Ouderkirk said.

“The fire was unquestionably an arson,” he said, explaining that the blaze began in three sections of the restaurant at about the same time.

Pinel died as he led a hose crew through the dark, smoke-filled restaurant in an effort to drench the base of the rapidly spreading fire. Gases in the restaurant reached a flash point, fire officials later said, and exploded in a fireball.