Community Corner

Arson Suspect Charged With 37 Felony Counts [VIDEO]

Harry Burkhart is charged with setting 12 fires in Hollywood, West Hollywood and Sherman Oaks.

A 24-year-old man suspected of setting dozens of fires across Los Angeles on New Year's weekend was charged Wednesday with 37 felony counts related to arson.

Harry Burkhart, a German national who lives in Hollywood, was charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with 28 counts of arson of property and nine counts of arson of an inhabited structure.

He made a brief court appearance Wednesday in which he repeatedly stood up, sat down and slumped his neck back as sheriff's deputies held him, but his arraignment was postponed to Jan. 24.

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Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Upinder S. Kalra ordered Burkhart to remain jailed in lieu of $2.85 million bail and to surrender his passport, but declined Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney's request to order Burkhart to be held without bail.

on Sunset Boulevard near Fairfax Avenue by a reserve sheriff's deputy who spotted his minivan. Police said fire-starting materials were found inside the vehicle. According to sheriff's investigator Edward M. Nordskog's investigation, a search of Burkhart's residence after his arrest turned up copies of Los Angeles Times articles about the fires, along with articles from Germany about similar car fires in Frankfurt last year.

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The charges filed Wednesday relate to 12 fires that were set in Hollywood, West Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, said District Attorney Steve Cooley. The criminal complaint also includes an allegation that an accelerant was used to start the fires. More charges may be filed. Cooley noted that the investigation in the 52 fires is "not over."

"We anticipate filing additional charges by the time of the defendant's arraignment,'' Cooley told reporters at a news conference. "As Sean Carney ... stated in court, a campaign of terror has ended and that was with the arrest of Harry Burkhart,'' Cooley said.

"I think the bail deviation (declaration) that we filed set forth a sense that this particular individual was set off by the incarceration of his mother, with whom he appears to be quite close, and he had latent anti-American views,'' the district attorney said. "That combination apparently set him off on this binge.''

In many instances, fires started in carports that spread quickly to adjoining apartment buildings. The property damage resulting from the fires has been estimated at $3 million. One firefighter and a civilian suffered relatively minor injuries. So far, the fires have stopped following Burkhart's arrest.

 let loose at an extradition hearing for his mother on Dec. 29 helped lead to his capture.  emerged Sunday in connection with the arson fires, a law enforcement officer who had witnessed the outburst reportedly recognized Burkhart and gave local authorities his name, according to the DA's office.

According to the "bail-deviation'' declaration prepared by a Sheriff's Department investigator, Burkhart became enraged during the hearing, shouting things such as "(expletive) all Americans.''

Burkhart's alleged "campaign of arson'' began early the next morning, Carney told the judge. The prosecutor said Burkhart became "more proficient and more efficient at it'' as the weekend wore on, with most of the fires set between the early morning hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

His mother, Dorothee Burkhart, appeared in federal court in downtown L.A. for a detention hearing Tuesday, but the proceeding was delayed until Friday to give her time to hire an attorney. She is wanted in Germany on 19 counts of fraud, including charges that she failed to pay a bill of about $10,000 for breast-augmentation surgery and bilked apartment renters out of security deposits.

A warrant for her arrest was issued by a judge in Frankfurt in 2007, according to federal court papers.

In court Tuesday, Dorothee Burkhart asked loudly for her son several times, repeating in heavily accented English, "Where is my son? What did you do to my son?"

At one point, the woman, who is in her early 50s, proclaimed something about "German Nazis" and said of her son, "He is mentally ill" and has "disappeared."

Dorothee Burkhart has also been linked to a website offering the services of a licensed massage therapist. The website is registered in her name with the Hollywood address where she was living with her son.

Harry Burkhart could also be facing charges in Germany. German authorities told the Times that Burkhart is suspected of setting fire to a home owned by his family on Oct. 14 in Schwalm-Eder-Kreis near Frankfurt. The home was destroyed, but was vacant at the time.

Burkhart flew to the United States on Oct. 20, the Times reported. According to the court declaration, Burkhart's visa is set to expire Jan. 18.


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