Los Angeles arson: Police detain 'person of interest'

Los Angeles police say they have detained a "person of interest" as part of their investigation into arson attacks across the city in recent days. The detention came as a dozen more suspicious fires broke out in the early hours at garages around the city. Department spokesman Captain Jaime Moore says 10 of the blazes were in Los Angeles and two in West Hollywood. Police have been puzzled by what is thought to be the worst wave of arson to sweep the city since the 1992 riots. Investigators released surveillance video on Sunday showing a man at a garage that was the scene of one of the car fires. But Capt Moore said it was not known if that man was the "person of interest" detained by the authorities early on Monday. No injuries were reported in the latest spate of attacks, which began at 01:30 (09:30 GMT) on Monday. Dozens of fires have been started since Thursday, mainly in vehicles parked outside homes. The former Hollywood Hills home of Jim Morrison, frontman of The Doors, was among the properties damaged. Two people were arrested on Friday, but were behind bars when new fires broke out on Saturday. Police suspect the sheer number of fires could suggest the work of copycat firebugs. Dozens of detectives have been assigned to the case, while a telephone hotline was set up and more than $35,000 (£22,500) in rewards offered for information leading to a conviction.