A West Hills man who started a fire that damaged a Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica pleaded guilty to a federal charge Thursday.
Micah Tillmon, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device. Tillmon was arrested in July on one count of arson for causing damage to Sake House by Hikari, a restaurant at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and 4th Street.
According to his plea agreement, on June 4, 2020, Tillmon entered Sake House by Hikari while it was closed due to the uprisings happening across the country last year.
Tillmon lit a fire that rapidly got out of control, surrounded the restaurant and spread to adjacent buildings. The Santa Monica Fire Department responded to the restaurant and extinguished the flames. The restaurant has permanently closed since the incident.
The Santa Monica Police Department identified Tillmon by reviewing security videos and social media posts. Court documents revealed that Tillmon was also linked to the fire when investigators found a video showing his white Ford Explorer parked next to the Sake House for four minutes before the fire started. The car then reversed across the street after the fire started.
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald scheduled a Dec. 6 sentencing hearing. Tillmon will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the charge.