Highland Park Arson Suspect Arrested
LOS ANGELES – Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Arson-Counter-Terrorism Section and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been investigating a series of trash and vehicle fires in the Highland Park area since May 2016. 
On November 10, LAFD investigators responded to a suspected arson fire in the 300 block of North Kirby Street where they encountered 38-year-old Javier Viera at the scene. Viera, who was previously convicted for arson crimes in the city of Pasadena, was already considered a suspect in the May 2016 fires. At the Kirby Street fire, investigators discovered a second intentionally set fire that had failed to spread at the base of a garage.
On Tuesday, November 15, LAFD investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Viera for two counts of Arson of a Structure (451(c)PC). Members of the LAPD’s Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force arrested Viera on the morning of Friday, November 18, at his residence in Los Angeles.
He is currently being held in lieu of $1.58 million bail and his case will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office for consideration of filing.
“Arson is a serious crime and we have zero-tolerance for willful acts of destruction in the City of Los Angeles,” said LAFD Chief Ralph M. Terrazas. “We are thankful there were no injuries or lives lost as a result of these fires and we will always investigate and prosecute the serious crime of arson to the fullest extent of the law.”
