Man Arrested in S. Pasadena Carport Fires

Authorities have arrested a man suspected of setting a string of fires in carports throughout South Pasadena, causing about $500,000 in damage, police said Wednesday.

Timothy Tyler, 21, of South Pasadena was initially arrested about two weeks ago on a narcotics charge and released. But he was taken into custody again Wednesday after he made incriminating statements during a polygraph examination, said Battalion Chief Phillip Guiral.

“He agreed to the polygraph, and during questioning he made statements that implicated him in a number of fires,” Guiral said. “After he made these statements, he was arrested.”

Tyler is suspected of setting fire to an apartment and destroying nine cars in a series of arsons, Guiral said.

Fire officials say Tyler is an apparent copycat of a more prolific arsonist who has set 20 carport fires in other areas of the San Gabriel Valley.

There have been no injuries in the South Pasadena arsons, but a fire earlier this month nearly turned deadly before neighbors rescued a woman and her granddaughter from their burning apartment.

After that blaze was put out, investigators questioned Tyler, who was a witness, Guiral said. They discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest on a drug-related charge.

“Our arson investigator decided to do a follow-up interview on Tyler,” Guiral said. “That’s why we brought him in for the polygraph.”

At a news conference Wednesday, South Pasadena Fire Chief William Eisele said Tyler was caught by a task force that included Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives and investigators from other San Gabriel Valley cities. The probe, Eisele said, has consumed almost all his energy, as well as that of his colleagues, and was “as frustrating to me as to all the car owners” whose vehicles were destroyed.

Tyler “can only be implicated in the local fires at this point, but we are sure the person we have in custody is a valid suspect,” Eisele said.

Since late February, fires have been reported in South Pasadena, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead and Alhambra. The cumulative damage so far is more than $2 million.

City News Service contributed to this story.