Transient Held After Fire at the House of Friend
A transient was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of arson shortly after a fire caused $300 damage to the home of a Saugus man who had befriended him, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.
A month ago, Robert Worland Harter, 19, moved into a house on Alamota Drive in Saugus at the invitation of 44-year-old Merrill A. Pederson, Deputy Ron Ablott said. Early this week, Pederson asked Harter to leave, Ablott said.
When he moved out, Harter began living in his car, which he parked across the street from Pederson’s house, deputies said.
Ablott said Harter was arrested after he made conflicting statements about the fire, which broke out about 8 a.m., and after arson investigators were told that Harter had talked to neighbors about wanting to burn Pederson’s house.
Deputies said they found an incendiary device near the house.
The two men met earlier this year at the Saugus Swap Meet, where Pederson frequently went to sell books and records, Ablott said.
Harter was being held at the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station on $2,500 bail. Arraignment has been set for Friday.
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