GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) - Prosecutors have charged a 32-year-old suspect with attempted murder after police said he tried to light a sleeping homeless man on fire near Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reports Wednesday that Richard Smallets was arrested Sept. 12 on suspicion of arson after authorities responded to a small sidewalk fire in Glendale.
Police say a homeless man awoke to find cardboard boxes he was sleeping on were ablaze. He was unable to extinguish the flames, which were knocked down by firefighters.
Investigators later found surveillance footage that showed a man intentionally setting the fire and taking photos as the cardboard burned. Smallets was identified as a person of interest and eventually the lone suspect. It wasn’t known if he has an attorney.
Smallets is being held on $1 million bail.
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