Police Arrest San Fernando Man in Torching of Pizza Restaurant

An 18-year-old San Fernando man has been arrested in connection with a fire that caused $100,000 in damage to a local Pizza Hut after he allegedly confessed that he wanted revenge against restaurant workers who helped police capture a fleeing teen-ager.

The arrested man--identified as Steven Terry Redwine--apparently did not realize that police only questioned the 14-year-old youth and released him to his parents after he ran into the restaurant and was detained, San Fernando police said Saturday.

The Sept. 13 fire, started by a Molotov cocktail, temporarily closed the restaurant. It was the culmination of threats and several acts of vandalism that began Aug. 27 after police chased two youths from the intersection of 5th Street and Maclay Avenue, including the 14-year-old who dashed into the Pizza Hut.

The restaurant suffered broken windows and employees’ cars were burglarized, according to a prepared San Fernando police statement.

Redwine, who lives down the street from the Pizza Hut in the 500 block of North Maclay Avenue, was quickly identified as a possible suspect through neighborhood graffiti and witnesses, police said.

He was arrested Friday after police searched his home and he allegedly admitted his role in the fire.

Redwine was being held in the San Fernando Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in San Fernando Municipal Court on Monday, police said.