Arsonist Sentenced to 14 Years After Guilty Pleas on 17 Counts

A North Hollywood man, who set a series of fires in his neighborhood before he was caught by a Neighborhood Watch group, pleaded guilty Thursday to 17 counts of arson and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Several of the blazes caused more than $25,000 in damage to structures and cars.

Reunald C. Parker, 31, entered the pleas at a preliminary hearing in San Fernando Municipal Court after 17 residents testified that their neighborhood had been terrorized by an arsonist who set fire to carports, garages and trash bins.

Had the case gone to trial, Parker could have been sentenced to 28 years in prison if convicted on all counts, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis, who prosecuted the case. But the trial would have been lengthy because of the many charges and expected testimony from at least 25 witnesses.

Aveis said Parker is expected to serve the sentence concurrently with a six-year prison term for violating probation for a 1986 burglary conviction.

The fires occurred in the 5400 block of Bellingham Avenue between early January and Feb. 5, when neighbors who had been on the lookout for an arsonist saw Parker leave a carport moments after it erupted in flames.

The neighbors, perched on the block’s highest roof, were equipped with binoculars, walkie-talkies and a cellular phone. They said they kept an eye on the man and led police to a nearby parking lot from where Parker was watching firefighters battle the blaze.

The fire destroyed five cars but did not damage the apartment building connected to the carport, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

Investigators were unable to determine a clear motive for setting the fires, Aveis said.

But Parker, who worked as a hospital X-ray technician before his arrest, reportedly told arson investigators after being taken into custody that he set a Christmas tree on fire to show his girlfriend “how quickly these things go up,” Aveis said.