Serial arson suspect arrested in string of at least 8 fires in Fairfax District, police say

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A 34-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of setting numerous fires in the Fairfax District since May, authorities said.

Delano Thompson, who authorities said was living in his car, was taken into custody late Wednesday and jailed in lieu of $600,000 bail, according to police and jail records.

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Roger Allen said Thompson is believed to be linked to at least eight arson fires. Police used surveillance footage from various blazes to identify a suspect vehicle, leading them to Thompson, officials said.

Numerous fires were reported in the Fairfax area in May and June, including several garage fires that damaged multiple vehicles.

An arsonist could be behind a suspicious fire that broke out in a carport in the Fairfax District over the weekend as well as two others that were previously reported in the area.

"As we mapped them we understood that we had clusters, or a serious problem, on our hands," Allen said of the arson probe.

One of the fires Thompson is suspected of setting was in an outbuilding at a Jewish girls' high school on Beverly Boulevard, but police said they do not yet have any indication that fire constituted a hate crime.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said 52 arson suspects have been arrested locally in the past six months.

"They were starting fires, they were destroying property and terrorizing neighborhoods," Scott said, adding they are "no longer on the streets."