SoCal man arrested in $1 million arson fires at SUV dealerships

KCBS News ^ | Saturday September 13, 2003

[Partisan Hack]

WEST COVINA, Calif. (AP) A 25-year-old man was arrested Friday by FBI agents for investigation of arson and vandalism that caused $1 million in damages last month at a Hummer dealership, police said.

Joshua Thomas Connole, of Pomona, was arrested at home about 12:30 a.m., said Cpl. Rudy Lopez, a West Covina police spokesman.

Fires that broke out Aug. 22 gutted a parts warehouse and destroyed 20 Hummer H2 sport utility vehicles at a West Covina dealership. Another 20 Hummers and several Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs were significantly damaged by fire and spray-painting.

Three other dealerships and at least four privately owned vehicles in the area also were damaged during the vandalism spree.

Words such as ``ELF,'' ``Fat, Lazy Americans'' and ``I (heart) pollution'' were painted on the SUVs. ``ELF'' stands for Earth Liberation Front, a loose association of militant environmentalists. The group, which previously has taken responsibility for other acts of arson and vandalism, claimed in an unsigned e-mail that the SUV fires were ``ELF actions.''

Lopez said it had not been determined whether Connole belonged to the group.

Connole was booked for investigation of felony arson and vandalism, Lopez said. He was being held at the West Covina Police Department with bail set at $825,000. Arraignment was set for Monday.

Lopez said the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were continuing an investigation of federal crimes, which would be added to Connole's state crimes charges.

The FBI after the arson and vandalism spree released surveillance video from a Ford dealership in Duarte that showed two young men spray-painting SUVS.

[DCBryan1]

Where is Henry Bowman when you need him.

Time to feed the hogs.

[Tony in Hawaii]

YES! LET ME STOMP HIM!

[CARepubGal]

Can we sell tickets and put the A** whupping on Pay Per View?

[Tony in Hawaii]

I'm actually a gentle and loveable guy, but...


ME STOMP!!!

ME WANNA STOMP!!!

[WOSG]

Glad they got the bad guy ... even a lifetime of work for this guy wont make up for $1 million in damage he's done. This is homegrown terrorism, so I hope he pays dearly.

[Coeur de Lion]

Thank God we busted one of them. Perhaps they can turn him so he turns in other members of ELF.

[onyx]

I hope he's one of the punk terrorists. Their mega-million dollar vandalism has to stop.

[CARepubGal]

Yup. And there are plenty of SUV owners who would agree. Hippies make me want to do some Stomping too.

[Monty22]

Ship this guy to gitmo and get info out of him. I'm sure this panty boy would squeal so bad.

[tubebender]

Most excellent... :-)

[Tony in Hawaii]

You signed up for FR on 9/11/01? Wow. The most productive thing I did that day was pace around and chain-smoke.

[T'wit]

I think he should be defaced, spray painted and firebombed.

[Bobibutu]

We are going to work on this "boy" - lawyers or not - I would hate to walk a mile in his future shoes ... nice work troops and thank you!

[concerned about politics]

A 25-year-old man was arrested Friday by FBI agents for investigation of arson and vandalism that caused $1 million in damages last month at a Hummer dealership, police said.

25? My guess - he IS an ELF member.
A teen may just do it to appear "cool" for his friends, but a 25 year old man knows exactly what he's doing.
Throw the book at him. Charge him with domestic terrorism.

[CARepubGal]

I was sort of stunned and having found the site a few days earlier, figured it was as good a time as any to sign up, I still get choked up at the sight of the NYC skyline. Never paid much attention to the towers but the lack of such is heartbreaking.

[Shmokey]

Hows about we drag him behind a Hummer.

[Bobibutu]

"Charge him with domestic terrorism"

This will take a while to wind out - Aschroft will let this b*stard twist in the wind. He will find out what domestic terrorism means.

Personally - I would do the guys feet soles with cables - but we are above that here. ":^)

[NautiNurse]

Is this the 25yo male perp, or a galpal accomplice?

[SpaceBar]

A visit to ELF's website seems to indicate that they are quite unrepentent. As of this writing, they have an initial splash page that features a photo of a burnt SUV and a caption that says "Every Night is Earth Night. This may change as the site gets more attention.