Police In Canada Investigating Hollywood Arson Suspect For String Of Fires In Vancouver
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police in Vancouver, Canada are investigating if the arson suspect dubbed the "Hollywood fire devil" by German newspapers also was responsible for a string or arsons in British Columbia, it was reported Thursday.
The Los Angeles Times quoted a spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department who said discussions about Henry Burkhart, 24, of Hollywood, are underway with police in Los Angeles.
The Times report comes after several Canadian news outlets linked Burkhart to at at least 12 unsolved arson fires in Vancouver. But Vancouver police have said nothing more than they are talking with LAPD.
Burkhart is jailed in Los Angeles and charged with 28 counts of arson of property and nine counts of arson of an inhabited structure. His bail was set at $2.85 million.
It is believed the damage caused by the fires will exceed $3 million.
Burkhart was arrested early Monday in connection with the fires that were set beginning a week ago at more than 50 locations, mostly in Hollywood and West Hollywood but also in North Hollywood, Burbank and Sunland.
His mother, Dorothee Burkhart, is due in federal court Friday afternoon, where federal prosecutors seek to deport her on warrants from Germany, where she is accused of fraud.
Anger by her son over the deportation is what prosecutors say triggered Henry Burkhart's four day arson spree, prosecutors have said.
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