LOCAL : Studio City Fire Suspect Held
A transient found hiding in a restaurant restroom today was arrested for allegedly intentionally setting two fires that erupted within minutes of each other in stores in Studio City.
Police were called to Charlie’s Restaurant, near the scene of the fires, about 9:30 a.m. after a customer chatting with another about the Wednesday afternoon fires realized that a man matching the description of the suspect had been loitering in the restaurant bathroom for about 30 minutes.
Officers detained the man, who identified himself as John Kellogges, 37, at the Ventura Boulevard restaurant. He was booked on suspicion of arson after several hours of questioning.
Mitchell said that the man “smelled like smoke and he matched the suspect’s description to a T.”
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