The homeless arson suspect who was taken into custody near one of the Los Angeles wildfires is an illegal immigrant, it was revealed Sunday night.
The suspect, who has since been identified as Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before he was confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
They held his arms behind his back and pushed him to the ground as they waited for police to arrive on the scene near the Kenneth Fire - which has since been contained.
One witness later recounted that the suspect was 'very focused on moving forward with the blow torch', telling FOX 11 the suspect said: 'I can't stop. I can't stop. I'm not putting this down. I'm doing this.'
Renata Grinshpun also recalled how the community 'really banded together as a group'. She told KTLA: 'A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope and we were able to do a citizen's arrest.'
Once an officer approached, the three men who intervened could be seen pointing out the suspect to the police officer, who proceeds to take the suspect into custody.
Police officers said at the time the suspect was taken to the Topanga police station after being restrained for 'about 20 to 30 minutes.'
Sources also told DailyMail.com that a resident called 911 to report a male attempting to set a fire at the 21700 block of Ybarra road at around 4.30pm Thursday.
The homeless arson suspect who was taken into custody near where one of the three Los Angeles wildfires broke out has been identified as Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva
Officials took him into custody but said they lacked probable cause to arrest him on arson charges, and instead arrested him on a probation violation
But officials later said they lacked the probable cause to arrest him on arson charges and instead arrested him on a probation violation.
'After the interview and additional investigative steps, looking at some additional evidence that was present, they made the determination that there was not enough probable cause to arrest this person on arson or suspicion of arson,' LA Police Department Divisional Chief Dominic Choi said, according to the Daily Wire.
They said the investigation was 'ongoing.' Sierra-Leyva is due back in court Monday.
In the meantime, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to place a detainer request on Sierra-Leyva, but they do not expect it to be honored due to California's sanctuary state law, Bill Melugin reports.
Yet the detainer request comes as four fires burn through 40,000 acres across the most affluent neighborhoods in LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.
The Los Angeles medical examiner updated the death count on Sunday afternoon, revealing 24 people are now confirmed dead as a result of the fires.
Dozens more are unaccounted for as evacuees locked out of their suburbs face an anxious wait to return home and see what - if anything - remains.
With cadaver dogs now being brought in to locate human remains, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has warned the death toll will likely continue to rise.
A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows
The Palisades Fire reached over 23,000 acres by Sunday night
The weather is expected to contribute to another stint of dangerous and potentially extreme fire conditions which could exacerbate the fires already burning and cause more new ones to pop up
'The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office and the Los Angeles County Fire Department [are] using cadaver dogs, doing grid searches,' he said.
'I don't expect good news from those,' he added. 'We will keep people updated.'
Meanwhile, residents in the fire-ravaged evacuation zones have been warned that 'life threatening' winds reaching 70mph would pick up on Sunday night and last through Wednesday, heightening the risk for fires to spread even further across southern California.
'The general duration of this is not looking good,' meteorologist Rose Schoenfield warned.
The weather warning also prevents locals from returning home to inspect the damage, and makes it more challenging for first responders sifting through the ash and debris searching for dozens of people who remain unaccounted for.
Residents in the areas not yet facing evacuation orders but subject to the Santa Ana winds have also been warned to avoid mowing or trimming their dry grass, parking their cars on grass and to ensure campfires are 'completely out.'
