Arson is being investigated in the fire of this Highlands home.
A nightmare of mental instability and drug use had dragged a family into a place where there appears to be no help. And now, the neighborhood is in fear of the tragedy that is unfolding.
A fire was reported on December at 10:45 p.m. at 17261 Avenida de la Herradura in the Palisades Highlands. There are 116 homes (53 were lost in the Palisades Fire) and neighbors believe that the current resident is responsible for the fire. An arson team was sent and LAFD told CTN that fire is under investigation .
This was the fourth fire allegedly set by the suspect since the Palisades Fire. Two of these three fires had grown beyond containment and had to be extinguished by LAFD. The fourth fire was the house fire.
Firefighters cut open the roof and now despite being open to the elements, the man continues to live there. The house has no power nor water and was flooded during the January rains. The man reportedly told a neighbor “it’s better than the bus station.”
The male also has a pit-bull mix, which has been allowed to roam off-leash. It has allegedly bit a retired female neighbor, a FedEx carrier, and the man’s brother. A first-person report is required for intervention. But all were reluctant because of fear of reprisal from the individual, who appears unstable.
The HOA wrote LAPD Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin “Residents no longer feel safe walking their streets, letting their children outside, or even answering their doors. According to multiple accounts, the man is a chronic methamphetamine user and appears profoundly unstable. I have been informed by a family member that there may be at least one unaccounted-for firearm associated with the household.
“This situation has all the characteristics of a catastrophic event waiting to happen. The warning signs have been present for over a year,” the HOA wrote. “Much of this is already documented. If something horrific occurs—and many of us believe it is only a matter of time—it will be impossible to say the risk was not known.
“We are pleading for immediate intervention. Not weeks. Not months. Now.”
The family who owns the home are like many, who are dealing with a family member that may be on drugs, may have mental issues but refuses help.
At their wit’s end, the family finally filed and was granted an unlawful detainer in June 2025, which allows the L.A. County Sheriff to enter it in the system and serve a five-day notice to remove the son. The Sheriff received the judgment on October 24, entered it in the database on November 12 and served the five-day notice on December 5.
Why hasn’t the man been evicted?
There is a wait time between the notice and the lockout of 30 to 60 days. Right now it is about 40 days since the notice, but residents are worried about unpredictable and irrational behavior and have been told it could be as long as 90 days or four months because the Sheriff’s office is behind.
Once the lock-out notice takes place, the man can be arrested by Los Angeles Police Department or even security guards, if he’s seen on the property.
The family has gone through all the proper legal channels to evict this squatter. CTN was told that it has been made more difficult by a “squatters’ rights” pro-bono legal center that the man is using.
As of two weeks ago, a woman and child living there with him have no longer been seen at the address. The man remains because as he told a resident that even though the home no longer has a roof “it’s better than the bus station.”
Are there any options for the family other than evicting a member? In Governor Newsom’s January 8 State of the State Address, he announced that the homeless population in California dropped 9 percent last year and that new tools were helping those who were suffering from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or paranoia. “We created CARE Court, a new legal framework to connect people with untreated psychosis to court-ordered services and housing.” click here.
CARE (Community, Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment), is a
It’s a care first, supportive approach, but as Circling the News wrote in September 2024 click here. “But like many well-intentioned programs, the most serious flaw of this one is it is voluntary. The person has to agree to the program.” When the story was written, no one had graduated the program, since it had started in 2023.
People in the Highlands are experiencing firsthand the threat of an individual, who desperately needs help, but is not receiving it and can’t be forced to take it. In the meantime, they wait for the sheriff.
“A first-person report is required for intervention. But all were reluctant because of fear of reprisal from the individual, who appears unstable.” That’s the problem. Residents don’t have the guts to file a report.
Additionally, the HOA is seriously exposing itself as they’ve let the situation fester for way too long. In the event of a lawsuit, there may even be a denial of a claim due to utter negligence on behalf of the HOA.
Living in this house or in encampments on our streets, all over Los Angeles and Santa Monica… our government has refused to address the issue of “personal agency” for fear of lawsuits from mental health activists. This cowardice on the part of government places ninety nine percent of the public at risk because the one percent that must be institutionalized are being protected by these activists.
Require all elected officials and candidates running for office to deal with this issue of “personal agency”. It’s their job to expedite a solution to handling risks to public safety.
Politicians are not celebrities hired to appear at ceremonies … your elected representatives need to handle this issue. Decisively. Choose your candidates for office wisely this year. Multiple positions are open … Governor, Mayor, Board of Suoervisors, City Council, Sacramento legislators.
“What are you going to do to protect the public from criminals, addicts, and the mentally unstable”? This is the question to ask every single elected official and candidates running for office.
Hopefully this article will prompt the Sheriff to do his job and act.