Two good Samaritans stopped and held an accused arsonist for authorities in Runyon Canyon.
On Sunday, Davanh DiMarco and Scott Mitchell were finishing up a hike when Davanh saw a man in the bushes.
“Fifteen seconds later, the palm tree went up in flames, and I was like,’ wait a minute. That guy started the fire,” Davanh told KNX News’ Emily Valdez. “So I told [Scott], ‘Go get him and don't let him loose.’”
Davanh recorded as Scott stopped the man. In the video, Davanh asked him if the man started the fire, to which he responded, “I did. You’re right…and you have the warrant for the murder, right? I don’t care what you do.”
Video also showed bystanders stepping in with a woman telling the man, “You’re going to be fined and hospitalized.”
Scott said the man claimed to be a fire marshal and that the fire he set was a controlled burn.
“So, I asked him, ‘Well, where's your badge, fire marshal?’” he said. “Obviously he's not gonna have one of those, right? So everything that he said after that is complete, like, gibberish, and talking. So that's why I told the guy, 'I'm Batman from Gotham City and I don't want to hear you talk.’”
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Scott added that the man was carrying a myriad of items.
“He actually had a vape in his hand, and then he had some other miscellaneous stuff, like hanging off of him,” he said., “But eventually, the park ranger and LAPD found the blowtorch in his backpack.”
Park Rangers arrested the man, later identified as 43-year-old Andrew O’Calliham. He pleaded not guilty in court and is being held on $100,000 bail.
The couple said they didn’t realize the impact their actions would have and that all they saw was a man start a fire, and that they had to stop him.
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