Official’s Remarks on Arson Suspect Raise Prosecutor’s Ire

In remarks that touched off an interagency squabble, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ director said Wednesday that investigators are pursuing a number of leads in connection with the recent Southern California fires but that no witnesses so far have positively identified a key suspect at the scene of any fire.

“You get tidbits and pieces,” said Director John Magaw. “There’s a lot of different information that we are working on.”

Although Magaw was guarded about discussing specifics of the arson investigations, his comments infuriated U.S. Atty. Terree A. Bowers, whose office is prosecuting a man accused of threatening to spark fires throughout the region. Bowers said Magaw had not consulted him before calling his news conference, and he called some of Magaw’s remarks “ill-advised.”

Authorities say Thomas Lee Larsen is the self-proclaimed “Fedbuster,” who mailed copies of a letter saying he would light fires to “settle a score” with the government. Larsen also is under investigation to determine whether he actually set any of the recent fires. At Bowers’ request, agencies investigating those allegations have for the most part remained tight-lipped about the case.

Magaw is visiting Los Angeles from Washington and scheduled his news conference to discuss a number of issues, including his agency’s role in investigating the string of brush fires that swept across Southern California. A spokesman for the bureau’s Los Angeles office, maintaining that no sensitive information was divulged, said the news conference was not called to discuss any specific cases under investigation.

“This press conference was not authorized by this office,” Bowers said when asked about Magaw’s comments. “To the extent that the director commented on the current Fedbuster investigation, we think his remarks were ill-advised.”

Bowers added that he was trying to reach Magaw to discuss concerns about the director’s comments but that he had not yet been able to locate him.

Larsen has been charged with mailing the threatening Fedbuster letter.

In Orange County, authorities filed charges Wednesday against a 17-year-old high school dropout accused of sparking the 750-acre Villa Park fire. Because of his age, the teen-ager was charged in Juvenile Court, and authorities would not discuss which of several possible statutes the youth is accused of violating.

Magaw did not mention either Larsen or the Orange County case in a prepared statement at the beginning of his news conference. Instead, the director expressed his confidence that arsonists responsible for as many as 19 of the recent Southern California fires will be caught.

Magaw also pledged that agents would work “night and day” to identify the suspects in the blazes and added: “Our hearts go out to those who have lost so much.”

Magaw steered clear of the Larsen investigation in his prepared remarks, but almost every question he was asked regarded that case in one way or another.

Magaw said, for instance, that although Larsen had not admitted responsibility for any of the arson fires, he would not be surprised to find that Larsen had set a number of them. “Would it surprise me? No,” the director said in response to one question.

An affidavit filed under seal in federal court reveals that agents consider Larsen a suspect in at least five recent arson fires--those in Thousand Oaks, Chatsworth, Steckel Park, Ojai and Rancho Palos Verdes. According to the affidavit, vehicles similar to a motorcycle and van owned by Larsen were spotted at two of those fires.

The author of the affidavit, Special Agent Michael Gleysteen, concluded that “Larsen clearly and completely matches the profile of a serial arsonist” and said there was probable cause to believe that Larsen set “several, if not all” of the five arson fires. Based on that affidavit, a federal judge gave agents permission to search Larsen’s home in Van Nuys.

Magaw appeared unfamiliar with the details in that affidavit, telling reporters who asked about it that agents would research their questions and respond later.

Asked about the apparent similarity between Larsen’s vehicles and those reportedly spotted at the fires in Rancho Palos Verdes and Thousand Oaks, Magaw said the identification was not firm enough to conclusively say that the vehicles belonged to Larsen. “We’ve got to be very careful,” he said.

Although Magaw added that investigators so far do not have enough evidence to bring a case against Larsen or other suspects, he expressed confidence in the task force investigating the crimes.

“We’re close” to solving many of the arson fires, Magaw said. “All we need is one little piece of information to tie to something else that we have.”

He urged anyone with information about any of the fires to call the arson hot line. The number is (800) 47-ARSON.

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this report.