LA County Arson Suspect is Illegal Immigrant Repeat Offender Protected By California’s Sanctuary State Policies
The man seen starting fires with a blow torch in a Los Angeles neighborhood Thursday afternoon is reportedly an illegal immigrant with a lengthy rap sheet in LA County.
The suspect, Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, is a Mexican national who has already been convicted of multiple crimes, but because California is a sanctuary state, he is unlikely to be deported, the New York Post reported.
Sierra-Leyva was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of arson near the Kenneth fire, a wildfire that started at about 2:30, Thursday afternoon. The suspect, believed to be a homeless man, had reportedly been seen riding around on a bicycle in Woodland Hills earlier that afternoon, attempting to set numerous old Christmas trees and garbage cans on fire with a blow torch.
A resident saw Sierra-Leyva wielding a yellow blow torch and called on his neighbors to help him stop the suspected arsonist. The neighbors banded together, using zip ties and rope to detain the man.
Sierra-Leyva, who was reportedly convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 2023, was described as “agitated” like “he was on something.”
“He was very like, ‘I can’t stop, I can’t stop’” a resident told Fox11. “I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this.”
The Kenneth Fire blazed through more than 1,050 acres over three days in Los Angeles and Ventura counties last week, but was completely contained by Sunday morning.
During a press conference Friday, Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Dominic Choi told reporters that Sierra-Leyva had not yet been charged with arson because a police investigation had found “no probable cause.” The man is still being detained on a felony probation violation amid the ongoing investigation.
According to Fox News’ Bill Melugin’s sources, ICE will place a detainer request on him with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, but they do not expect it to be honored due to California’s “sanctuary state” status.
In 2017, the state legislature passed a law ensuring that no state resources are used to assist federal immigration enforcement.
Following President-Elect Donald Trump’s win in November, the Los Angeles City Council also unanimously passed an ordinance, with the support of Mayor Karen Bass(D), prohibiting the use of city resources and personnel to carry out federal immigration enforcement.
Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell vowed in November that “LAPD will protect our immigrant community” and “LAPD officers will not take action to determine a person’s immigration status and will not arrest someone for their status” and “LAPD will not assist with mass deportations.”
“The lack of communication between local and federal law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles due to sanctuary policies put in place by LA city council and Governor [Gavin] Newsom, have resulted in many arrests that have been unreported to and followed up by ICE,” a law enforcement source told The Post.
“Many of which are criminals who have numerous encounters with local law enforcement for serious crimes,” they added.
The investigation into the arson case is ongoing, but despite multiple witnesses claiming they saw Sierra-Leyva lighting fires with a blow torch, the LAPD assistant chief said Friday there was not enough evidence for that charge.
The Kenneth fire is among multiple massive blazes that have devastated LA County in the past week, including the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire, Sunset Fire, Lidia Fire and Woodley Fire. Areas impacted included the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena, Sylmar, Encino, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Hollywood Hills, West Hills, Acton and parts of Ventura County.
In a news conference Monday morning, Choi said the department’s task force is investigating all of the fires and have not ruled out arson as the cause of any of them.