Police arrest man suspected in dumpster fires
A Fullerton man was arrested early Saturday for allegedly starting two fires within blocks of each other on West Coast Highway in Newport Beach, police said.
Police arrested Joshua Adam Giffin, 23, on suspicion of arson after firefighters extinguished dumpster fires outside the Rusty Pelican Restaurant and a business complex about a block away.
The first blaze, at the Rusty Pelican, started at about 3:20 a.m. Two dumpsters were fully engulfed in flames, police said.
About half an hour later, another dumpster was aflame just to the west, at a business complex in the 2400 block of West Coast Highway. Firefighters told police they found a suspicious man near the scene of both incidents, and they last saw him heading east.
Police found Giffin and said he matched the suspicious man’s description. Giffin also had evidence on him linking him to the blazes, police said in a media release.
Giffin is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
If anyone has information regarding the fires, call (949) 644-3717.
Twitter: @JosephSerna
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