Police Seek Public's Help To Find Suspects In 2010 Arson Attack At Staples Center
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Authorities held a news conference Wednesday to discuss an arrest made in the 2010 arson attack outside Staples Center after the Lakers' championship win.
Darren Cooper, who was in the crowd on June 17, 2010, has been arrested in the attack, but authorities are still looking for five other suspects.
Officials displayed images of the five other suspects involved in the incident, which destroyed a taxi cab, and sparked a two-year long investigation.
Taxi driver Abraham Teferi says his livelihood went up in flames that night.
"I don't know why they chose me. There are a million cars in the front and in the back," he told CBS2.
Teferi was in his cab on Flower Street when dozens of revelers rallied out of Staples Center and surrounded his vehicle.
"They tried to turn over the car and I was scared. I tried to get out, turned to the guy, 'Please don't hit my car.' Then he hit me, you know, just like this," Teferi recalled, pounding his fist.
Video from that night shows the crowd smashing windows, jumping on the car, and chanting, "Burn it up!"
A man then tossed a piece of flaming cloth into the cab as others celebrated the act by posing for pictures.
The crowds dispersed before police arrived, but information from spectators over the years led them to Cooper's arrest.
If you are able to identify anyone in this YouTube video, you are urged to contact LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Investigators at (213) 893-9800.
