SIMI VALLEY : Woman Held in Fire at Home of Ex-Boss

A woman who was fired from her job at a Simi Valley fast food restaurant was arrested Thursday for allegedly trying to burn down the house of the manager who fired her, authorities said.

Carole Alberts, 51, was arrested on suspicion of arson and booked at Ventura County Jail, said Detective Bill Daniels of the Simi Valley police.

Alberts was fired Tuesday from her job at a McDonald’s on Tapo Street for undisclosed reasons, Daniels said. Hours later, the assistant manager who fired Alberts reported finding a written death threat attached to a knife inside her car, he said.

Later the same day, the manager reported seeing Alberts, who police described as a transient, in front of her residence, where eggs were found broken against the porch, Daniels said.

On Wednesday morning, the manager said her residence began to fill with smoke. When she went outside to investigate, she said she spotted Alberts climbing over a fence into another yard and discovered that a burning blanket had been placed against the wall of her residence, Daniels said.

Police arrested Alberts without incident Thursday afternoon at the McDonald’s restaurant where she had been fired, he said.