Arson Suspect Arrested

Pasadena police recognized a suspect they were arresting for a Lake Avenue Metro Station disturbance today as the same man likely to have set a number of arson fires at Vroman’s Bookstore over previous weeks.

The suspect, a 25-year-old man, was apprehended without incident at Del Taco where officers investigating the multiple arson incidents located him.

Lisa Derderian, Pasadena Fire Department spokesperson, said the suspect is now believed to have been responsible for allegedly setting four fires at multiple locations inside Vroman’s between January 28 and February 6.

She said a fire investigator working on the Vroman’s Bookstore fire incidents had recognized the suspect from surveillance video at the bookstore, and from footage taken from the Lake Avenue Station scene this morning.

Police officers, working with Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies, determined the same suspect could be responsible for both the bookstore fires and the Lake Avenue Station arson attempt, Derderian said.

The suspect has been identified as Khaliq Muhammad, 25. His address is not currently known.