A California man has been charged for setting American flags on fire in a residential neighborhood in Long Beach, California.
The suspected arsonist was identified by the law enforcement authorities as 35-year old John Leo Meylor from Laguna Niguel after he was allegedly captured in surveillance video footage setting fire to American and military flags.
Meylor was arrested and is now being held on a $3.25 million bail and is facing 13 counts of arson and a different charge for setting arson in an occupied building.
The alleged arsonist is also facing additional charges for violating his previous parole, ABC 7 reported.
According to the authorities, Meylor went house-to-house, specifically targeting homes that have American flags and military flags with a lighter at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The next morning, the incident sparked concerns among the residents and multiple reports of several destroyed flags along Iroquois Avenue and Hackett Avenue were filed before the police department, leading to the arrest of Meylor after he was caught on surveillance camera setting multiple American flags on fire.
In an exclusive report released by KTLA News, it was revealed that “the suspect sets the flags on fire with a lighter. He appears to be relaxed, keeping one hand in his pocket. He ensures the flag is fully ignited by flicking his lighter multiple times and touching the flames to the flag. He then calmly walks away from the burning debris.”
Local News Today also reported that “the suspect was reportedly targeting Americans and military flags but left others untouched. Police say over a dozen properties were vandalized.”
Moreover, the authorities revealed that Meylor had struck not less than 14 homes in the same neighborhood.
In a statement released by victim Jane Andrus following the horrifying incident, she claimed that “we just can’t believe this is happening. I walked outside and the pole was charred. The old pole was just charred and there was no flag and something was missing.”
Andrus also claimed they only realized that her house was targeted the next morning and added that she was not sure how the fire was extinguished.
“It was just so casual the way this person walked up and took the time and the lighter and the whole bit. My family’s home could have been taken from us very quickly and it wasn’t and I’m very grateful.” Andrus claimed.
Another resident and victim, Bradley Mahlsted also added that “When you’re a father and you have a young child sitting at home and a lot of these families have children sleeping in their beds, and you have an individual setting fire to a flag that’s affixed to their house, I’m honestly shocked that no homes went up in flames.”
“Somebody loses something, if you can help a neighbor out, if you can help somebody out, that’s what we all should be doing,” Mahlstead added.
According to the residents, the destroyed flags were later replaced with flags that belong to war veterans, carrying a ton of sentimental value.
