VAN NUYS : Man Convicted of Mall Arson Attempt
A Sherman Oaks man was convicted of attempted arson Tuesday for throwing an ignited tennis ball behind a shopping mall after he was turned down for a job there as a security officer.
Shane Stewart, 21, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge stemming from an incident early Monday morning at the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square.
Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan Ellis sentenced Stewart to 30 days in jail and ordered him to stay away from the shopping center for two years.
Stewart made an obscene gesture toward mall security officers, said Deputy City Atty. Janey Ramos. Shortly afterward, they saw him throw a lighted tennis ball toward the mall’s trash dumpsters, she said.
The security officers recognized Stewart, Ramos said, because he had recently been rejected after applying to become a security officer at the Riverside Drive mall.
The guards put out the flaming tennis ball and Stewart was arrested at his home near the mall, authorities said.
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