Hollywood’s Scott Anthony Mitchell and Davanh Dimarco were on a regular Sunday hike in Runyon Canyon when they saw a palm tree catching fire and a man emerged from nearby bushes.
Six months after evacuating the house in the sunset fire in the same area, the couple knew there was a risk of flames on the Hollywood hills, owning millions of dollars in homes and acres of wildlife habitat. Together, they detained the suspect and caught him on the video, apparently admitting that it was starting to be a fire.
“No doubt he did it,” said designer Dimarco, who said the man’s hands looked light.
Mitchell, 41, is a former professional footballer who is able to chase the suspect and quickly closes the 150-yard gap.
Given that the incident happened at the end of the hilly hike, “I was surprised that I had a little left in the tank,” he joked.
By the time Dimarco rolled the phone camera, Mitchell was already facing the suspect.
“I made sure he knew he wasn’t going anywhere,” Mitchell said.
Other hikers on the busy trail joined the detention and called police and fire authorities. Some passersby filmed in the current encounter video expressed frustration with the man.
The Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at the scene with a helicopter and a fire truck, and the fire went out within an hour.
LAFD spokesman Margaret Stewart said state park rangers and Los Angeles Police Department officials arrested the suspect. LAPD officials did not identify the suspect and forwarded all questions about the incident to a state park ranger, who did not immediately respond to comment.
After the couple left, the shock was caused. Dimarco uploaded the video while the couple went down the mountain. “I didn’t realize how big it would be,” she said. “The sad thing is that he admitted he did it and didn’t care.”
Their videos have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Instagram. Among thousands of comments, some claim they saw the same person trying to burn the fire in other parks.
The couple had time to recall the deadly fire in January.
The sunset fire burned 43 acres near Runyon Canyon and triggered a massive evacuation on January 8 without damaging the home. Nevertheless, it was ignited in the same strong winds, which exacerbated the devastating fires burning in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, claiming 30 lives.
“We don’t want to relive that, we don’t want others to relive it,” Mitchell said.
