Ex-Security Guard Sentenced for Arson
Aformer security guard was sentenced Thursday to three years probation and 200 hours community service work for setting a fire next to the Tarzana country club where he worked.
Derek Kluft, 31, of Glendale also was ordered by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Kathryne A. Stoltz to continue psychiatric counseling as a condition of probation.
Kluft was under surveillance by arson investigators when he set fire to an area next to the Braemar Country Club in the 4000 block of Reseda Boulevard on Oct. 3. He was employed by a private security guard company and was on duty at the club.
Investigators said they had been watching Kluft because there had been 14 fires in the immediate area within a two-month period. The fires, all started with matches, consumed 25 acres.
No structures were threatened and no injuries occurred in any of the blazes.
Kluft was charged with setting eight fires. He later pleaded guilty to one count of arson as part of a plea-bargain.
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