A man was arrested Monday in connection with more than two dozen intentionally set fires in Pasadena and South Pasadena dating back to last fall, authorities said.
Javier Adolfo Viera, 35, of South Pasadena, admitted to setting most of the 25 fires that have engulfed parked cars and business entryways in the past five months, according to the South Pasadena Police Department.
The fires began in November 2012, police said. They started as small vegetation fires and escalated to fires involving parked cars and one involving the exterior door to a business.
In the wake of one of those fires, fingerprints found on an incendiary device that did not completely burn led authorities to Viera, who was spotted near the scene of a blaze on Sunday, police said.
Police set up surveillance to follow Viera, and said he was seen allegedly setting a car ablaze in the 6100 block of Oak Hill in Los Angeles on Monday.
Authorities said they found corroborating evidence at the 35-year-old’s South Pasadena home.
