Scott Anthony Mitchell and Davanh Dimarco de Hollywood were on their usual Sunday walk in Runyon Canyon when they saw a palm tree in fire and a man emerging from the nearby bushes.
Six months after evacuating their home during sunset fire in the same area, the couple was aware of the risks of the flames in the Hollywood hills, home of multimillion -dollar houses and wildlife habitat acres. Together, they arrested the suspect and caught him in a video apparently admitting the fire.
“There was no doubt in my mind that he did,” said Dimarco, a designer. In the hand of man it was what seemed to be a lighter, he said.
Mitchell, 41, is a former professional football player and could persecute the suspect, quickly closing a 150 -yard gap.
Since the incident occurred towards the end of a mountainous walk, “I was surprised that I stayed a little in the tank,” he joked.
When Dimarco shot his cell phone camera, Mitchell was already facing the suspect.
“I made sure I knew I would not go anywhere,” Mitchell said.
Other hikers on the busy path joined together to help stop man and call the police and fire authorities. Some passersby filmed in the now viral video of the encounter expressed frustration by man.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reached the scene with helicopters and fire trucks, and the fire came out in an hour.
The officers of the Police Department of the State Park and the Los Angeles Police Department arrested the suspect, according to LaFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. LAPD officials did not identify the suspect and sent all the questions about the incident to the Rangers of the State Park, who did not immediately answer comments calls.
After the couple left, the clash got. Dimarco uploaded the video when the couple left the hill. “I didn't realize how big it would be,” he said. “It's sad to admit that he did that and didn't care.”
His video was seen hundreds of thousands of times on Instagram. Among the thousands of comments were some stating that they saw the same man in other parks dealing with fires.
The couple had time to think about the mortal fires of January.
The sunset fire burned 43 acres near Runyon Canyon and caused mass evacuations on January 8, but did not damage the houses. Even so, it was lit during the same period of strong winds that fed the devastating fires that burned in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, with 30 lives.
“We don't want to revive that, and we don't want anyone else to have to revive that,” Mitchell said.
