Long Beach authorities release man arrested for series of parking garage fires

Authorities have released the man arrested for a series of fires ignited inside parking garages in downtown Long Beach. 

According to the city's fire department, authorities booked the person of interest with two charges related to arson. However, investigators determined they had the wrong man and released him. 

On Tuesday, arson investigators confirmed that a picture provided by a resident showed the person of interest in the case. However, on Thursday, the department said they do not know if the person in the photo is the person of interest or the person they mistakenly arrested.

The series of suspicious fires began Aug. 20 and continued for the next two weeks. Long Beach Fire Capt. Jake Heflin said the fires targeted five vehicles, two of which sustained extensive damage. The fires happened at the Camden Apartments complex and another at the convention center. The location for the final arson has not been released. 

The most recent fire happened at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning with the alarms waking up many of the residents at Camden. 

"It's almost PTSD because it's like whose car is it now," said resident Kimberly Lewis.

The fire filled the complex's parking garage with smoke and charred a white pickup truck. Lewis shared photos of two more cars that were burned inside the supposedly secured lot. 

However, residents showed KCAL News a broken door, which is supposed to remain locked, that leads into one of the garages. They said they informed management about the problematic door, only to find another car burned. 

"My thing is if they get into the elevator what's stopping them from lighting one of the hallways on fire," said resident Susan Herman.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In a previous version of this story, KCAL News used a photo of a man Long Beach officials described as a person of interest. In light of the new information released by the Long Beach Fire Department, we have chosen to remove the photo from this article.