A small brush fire was reported Monday around 4:30 pm in Chatsworth near Woolsey Canyon. Residents then noticed a man with a lighter attempting to start another fire at the entrance to Woolsey Canyon View Estates. Video online shows cars stopping and drivers pursuing the suspect, who ran down the street. He was tackled and subdued by local residents. In the video you can hear a resident saying, “Wrong neighborhood buddy, wrong neighborhood” as more residents gathered to view the arrest Sheriff’s Deputies with guns drawn cuffed and arrested 41-year-old Alejandro Martinez on suspicion of arson. They pulled a lighter and various other objects out of his pockets. This is the second “citizen’s arrest” of an arson suspect since the January fires began. Brian White and other residents in Woodland Hills tackled a homeless man with a blowtorch who they thought was trying to start a fire near Ybarra Road. They zip tied him and detained him until officials arrived. That suspect was arrested for a felony parole violation but was not charged with arson due to lack of evidence. According to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, Martinez and the incident are under investigation by their arson squad. They could not confirm if Martinez was the suspect in the Woodland Hills arrest or not.
