Baldwin Park Man Arrested for Fire That Killed 3

Sheriff’s homicide detectives today booked a 19- year-old man on suspicion of murder in connection with an arson fire at a South El Monte tire shop that killed three people.

Baldwin Park resident Roberto Fuentes was arrested at 7:20 p.m. Sunday and booked early this morning at the sheriff’s Temple station, where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, said Deputy Amber Smith of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Video surveillance footage led homicide detectives to identify the suspect vehicle, which led them to Fuentes, Smith said. The car, a gold 2002 Nissan Altima, was being held for evidence, she said.

Firefighters dispatched to the tire shop at 1252 N. Santa Anita Ave. at 5:27 a.m. Saturday found a terrified and burned man trying to escape from the locked shop, which a caller said had been torched with Molotov cocktails. The fire was put out in about an hour, but the man could not be saved, authorities said. His identity has yet to be determined by the coroner’s office, Smith said.

The bodies of two other people, both 18 years old, were later found inside the business. They were identified as El Monte resident Carlos Jimenez and Azusa resident Destiny Aguirre.

A firefighter was treated at a hospital for second-degree burns sustained while trying to rescue the man and battle the fire, a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher said.

--City News service; Image Patch Archive

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