Man arrested for setting fire to flags

A man was arrested on suspicion of arson after he set fire to flags in front of several homes in East Long Beach, authorities said.

John Leo Meylor, 35, of Laguna Niguel, was booked Thursday into the Long Beach City Jail on 13 counts of arson, one count of arson to an inhabited structure and one count of parole violation, Long Beach Police Department spokesperson Richard Mejia said, adding that no bail was set because of the parole violation.

No injuries were reported from the fires. A car and the outside of a home were damaged, authorities said.

A report about a vehicle fire in the 2800 block of Iroquois Avenue was made around 3:30 a.m. Thursday, said Capt. Jack Crabtree, a spokesperson for the Long Beach Fire Department.

A flag hanging over the driveway where the convertible was parked had been set ablaze and fell onto the car’s canvas top. As fire personnel were extinguishing that blaze, calls came in reporting fires outside other homes, Crabtree said.

Security camera footage obtained by the Long Beach Post shows a man wearing a black jacket, gray ski cap and headphones walking up to one home in the dark and using what appears to be a lighter to ignite the corner of a U.S. flag hanging in front.

Crabtree declined to say how many calls were fielded, citing the ongoing investigation.

Several fires had gone out by the time firefighters arrived. Fire personnel extinguished others, Crabtree said, noting that the blazes were consistent with torched flags. Some were U.S. flags; others were burned beyond recognition, he said.

A tipster’s call led authorities to Meylor, they said.

He was arrested after police responded to a fire assist call around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the 2900 block of Studebaker Road, Mejia said. Meylor had already been detained by fire personnel and park rangers when officers arrived.

As of Friday, no charges had been filed against Meylor, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.