GUILTY CA - Harry Burkhart charged in Hollywood arson spree, 2011

[LadyL]

A few thoughts:

Cars are definitely a problem for this person or they just like to see cars burning.

IIRC, the Lexus is from the early nineties and wouldn't be worth a whole lot of money right now. So I don't think the person is well off necessarily.

It would seem odd for an environmental group to start fires on cars. Slashing tires or something with a lower negative environmental impact would make more sense.

The area has been chosen for a reason, but why? Is it the ease of access? The type of people who live in that area? A specific target and the other fires are to draw attention away from the one he really wanted to set? One was set next to city hall, does that mean anything? Maybe they used to live in the area and felt they were treated poorly by the residents?

Is it someone who made an insurance claim with their car insurance but was denied and they figure they'll make the insurance company pay? Since it's doubtful they know what insurance company covers each car, they figure that by doing quantity they will at least get some from that company. Maybe they were fired by an insurance company. Is there an insurance company that covers most of the cars in that area?

Just some thoughts.

interesting theory about the insurance co.

I'm still wondering if this perp is connected to the previous arsonist who IIRC, is to be sentenced this month (?) - he started fires in carports too

 

[LadyL]

I couldn't see much of anything on that video ... wish they'd release the other image of him

 

[dotr]

Hopefully within copyright law!
"The man in the surveillance video taken on Hollywood Boulevard near Sycamore Avenue appears to be wearing black, has fair complexion, a ponytail, dark hair and a receding hairline. Police estimate he is in his late 20s to 30s, 5-feet-8-inches to 6-feet-2-inches tall. On the video he appears to have been leaving the parking garage"
http://northhollywood.patch.com/articles/investigators-seeking-person-of-interest-in-arson-incidents

 

[JBean]

The guy on the far right


http://northhollywood.patch.com/articles/investigators-seeking-person-of-interest-in-arson-incidents

 

[dotr]

from above link.
"There's no indication that this may be a terrorist attack," Moriarty said, "but in a post-9/11 world we're also mindful that this could be a precursor to something. This could be a probing action. That is why we need the public's help in this."

Heading into the evening hours, officials are reminding the public to take precautions.

"If anybody is at home and hasn't driven their cars in the last couple of days and they find anything, that their vehicle has been tampered in any way, they should contact us right away," said LAPD Commander Andrew Smith. "It's possible this guy has tampered with someone else's car and we don't know about it."

 

[Steely Dan]

Something else about the insurance angle. They may have been dropped after an accident, in that area, and the Lexus is a recently purchased used car.

The Lexus may have nothing to do with these fires too. When the shootings in Virginia(?) were going on many years ago the police thought a white van was involved but in fact a van had nothing to do with it in the end.

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

Something else about the insurance angle. They may have been dropped after an accident, in that area, and the Lexus is a recently purchased used car.

The Lexus may have nothing to do with these fires too. When the shootings in Virginia(?) were going on many years ago the police thought a white van was involved but in fact a van had nothing to do with it in the end.

BBM: Today as I was getting ready to take the furkids out about 11 am'ish, I had the tv on HLN and as I passed by it was showing 2 cars badly burned in a carport it looked like. The one on the right was a light coloured Lexus, and I tried to make out the 'E' model # but I couldn't see it clearly enough. I wonder if this was the car they were previously looking for, or at least the same 'E' model #. Does anyone know?

 

[dotr]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8487187&rss=rss-kabc-video-8487187

 

[Steely Dan]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8487187&rss=rss-kabc-video-8487187

Man what a stupid report. Whenever they show the guy walking out they cut it before you can get a good look at his face. There is only one shot, that is shown by the police, of him walking fully off camera. Why don't they show the whole video instead of repeatedly cutting it off before it ends. It's really frustrating. :maddening:

JMO

 

[CocoChanel]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8487187&rss=rss-kabc-video-8487187

That is a very good video. The person in question is very clear, he appears for a good duration of the film, and he seems to have a distinctive build and gait. SOMEONE should be able to recognize him fairly quickly from this. Of course, it remains to be seen if he has anything to do with these crimes. He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If this person is an innocent passer-by, I hope he identifies himself so that he can be cleared of suspicion.

 

[tarabull]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8487187&rss=rss-kabc-video-8487187

Intersting that he has been seen at more than one fire location.

Notice how he looks back towards the stairs over his right shoulder once he has a few strides on the sidewalk...

Hopefully someone recognizes him quickly.

 

[dotr]

It appears to me from video that the poi has something heavy and longish in right pocket, possibly accounting for what seems to be walking with a slight limp in my humble opinion.Could that be a blowtorch?

 

[katydid23]

A few thoughts:

Cars are definitely a problem for this person or they just like to see cars burning.

IIRC, the Lexus is from the early nineties and wouldn't be worth a whole lot of money right now. So I don't think the person is well off necessarily.

It would seem odd for an environmental group to start fires on cars. Slashing tires or something with a lower negative environmental impact would make more sense.

The area has been chosen for a reason, but why? Is it the ease of access? The type of people who live in that area? A specific target and the other fires are to draw attention away from the one he really wanted to set? One was set next to city hall, does that mean anything? Maybe they used to live in the area and felt they were treated poorly by the residents?

Is it someone who made an insurance claim with their car insurance but was denied and they figure they'll make the insurance company pay? Since it's doubtful they know what insurance company covers each car, they figure that by doing quantity they will at least get some from that company. Maybe they were fired by an insurance company. Is there an insurance company that covers most of the cars in that area?

Just some thoughts.

My son's girlfriend, who is pretty much an environmentalist said the same thing as you did. She actively walks the walk. She said WHY would they set fire to a car when it would make such a horrible environmental mess by doing so. She's right. LOL

 

[Peliman]

Noticed when he came up the top of the escalator, he made one long leap step to the top. He had an elongated step and had a little glitch in his giddy up. He actually was moving fast enough to almost pass the guy he got off the elevator with. I'd probably recognize him more from his walk than he face in these pictures.

Yes I also noted the turn around look and hand in the right pocket.

The video in the garage, you just don't flick a big and set that big of fire, he had to be using an accelerant, gas or kerosene.

 

[katydid23]

I am not hearing about any other fires set tonight. Is that correct? Maybe I just have not heard of any so far. I will watch the local 10 pm news and report back.

 

[katydid23]

On the local Fox news they said there was a large abandoned church that was set on fire on Gramercy street in Hollywood. They believe it was arson, but do not know if it was connected to the others yet.

There were no more cars so far tonight however. I think it is too dangerous for this guy to try and follow his same routines right now. imoo

 

[Kaliste]

I'm not sure if this has been posted or not. Lot's of info on here:

http://www.facebook.com/ArsonWatchLA

"A Joint Task Force was formed between the LASD, LAPD, LAFD, LACoFD, ATF, to investigate the fires set throughout the Greater Los Angeles area."

 

[dotr]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arson-investigation-20120102,0,3942590.story
New 2 page article!
"As of Sunday at 9:30 p.m., no new arsons had been reported.

Authorities are holding the details of their investigation close to the vest, mindful of tipping off the perpetrator or sparking copy-cats. But veteran arson investigators say they are most likely combing the dozens of crime scenes for some kind of pattern.

Were the targeted cars expensive or cheap? Did they have in-state or out-of-state license plates? How long would it take a single arsonist to cover the ground between fires on any given night?

"Sometimes there are various patterns to these fires that arsonists are establishing unwittingly," said Bradley Hamil, who was an arson investigator in San Bernardino for 25 years.

An arsonist in the Washington, D.C., area set a fire every year for more than a decade in fast-food restaurant parking lots before investigators finally found the pattern and linked the fires to a fry cook at the fast food chain.

Crime scene investigators have been hunting for forensic evidence — fingerprints left on a matchbook, DNA from skin cells left on a rag, a single strand of human hair — that survived the burn. Finding and processing such evidence from 39 fires could take weeks".

 

[dotr]

From above newslink.(By Victoria Kim, Ari Bloomekatz, Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times)

January 2, 2012


"Psychologists say there is no single profile for serial arsonists. But given the facts of the Los Angeles case, several experts painted a portrait of the likely suspect.

He is probably between 20 and 40 years old, a loner from a broken home who feels angry about something or someone, and feels unable to communicate it in another way.

The arsonists' actions most likely had a precipitating event.

"This is a form of communication," said Dr. Jeffrey Geller, an expert on pathological fire setting at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "Something causes him to be enraged and he doesn't know what to do with it."

"Often over the course of their life they've fused an association between angry feelings and fire," said Robert Stadolnik, a psychologist who runs FirePsych Inc., a treatment program for children and adult fire setters.

Half of all arson arrests involve juveniles, but experts say a teenager is unlikely in this case".

 

[valiswashere]

Melrose location listed is unique in that it is in a business area. But not an identifiable address. Anyone know where that was posted?