After a gentleman in the Los Angeles area was seen allegedly lighting a couple of brush fires on Monday, a group of neighbors tackled him to the ground, where he remained until police arrived. (See video from KTLA below.)
The arsonist had already started one fire in one of Chatsworth's canyons, and as firefighters arrived to put that one out, he slipped away to light another fire about three minutes down the road. But witnesses were on to him.
"The neighbors and the firefighters were really trying to put out the fire, but if the person is three minutes away from us lighting another fire …you really have to act sometimes," said local resident Santiago Martinez (via CBS News), who jumped into his car and spotted the man nearby sparking up another hill.
By this point, other residents, including Amilcar Fajardo, joined in to help. "He just started running. There were other guys there. They all helped out. We just stopped him and that was it," Fajardo said, curiously describing the screaming arsonist as "kind of funny" and "kind of weird."
Once deputies arrived, the suspect — who had a lighter in his pocket —was taken into custody.
Previously: Florida man steals good samaritan's car, then fatally crashes it
