A former Marine who served prison time in Japan for torching restaurants was charged Thursday with 21 counts of arson for allegedly setting a string of fires in North Hollywood.
Kurt Kaye Billie was expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Van Nuys on 20 counts of felony arson and one count of felony aggravated arson. He remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.
The 34-year-old man was taken into custody 4 a.m. Tuesday in the 7500 block of Troost Avenue after witnesses spotted him near an attempted fire.
Billie was previously convicted in Japan on arson charges in 2001 while serving as a U.S. Marine on Okinawa, a source in the Los Angeles Fire Department's Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section told NBC LA. Billie served five years in prison in Japan.
He is suspected in a series of vehicle and structure fires that were set early July 21 through 24, starting around 3 a.m. each day. The fires were set between Lankershim and Laurel Canyon boulevards and Vanowen Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
Billie faces life in prison if convicted.
