Fire engines arrived Saturday morning at a checkpoint near where emergency workers were searching for debris from the Palisades fire.
A law enforcement official familiar with the incident told the Times that the driver told National Guard troops guarding the perimeter that he was a volunteer firefighter.
The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity, said they had little reason to believe otherwise. The man was wearing a yellow firefighting suit and was driving a full-sized red firetruck equipped with emergency lights, a California license plate and an American flag.
But firefighters at the checkpoint noticed something odd about the decal on the truck that read “Roaring River Fire Department,” officials said. He directed Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to check the man’s identification.
Police officials said the man presented an Oregon driver’s license with Dustin Nael’s name on it. The official said a review of Nehru’s criminal history revealed that he had served five years in prison for arson.
Portland TV station KATU reported that Nehru pleaded guilty in 2017 to setting a series of fires at golf courses, parks and water facilities in Woodburn, Oregon, about 30 miles south of Portland.
Nehru, 31, was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a firefighter and entering an evacuation area without permission, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said in a statement Sunday. Deputies also arrested his wife, Jennifer Nael, 44. Sheriff’s officials said they planned to request charges against the couple from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday.
Dustin Nael is not the first person to be accused of impersonating an emergency worker to gain access to an evacuation area. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell announced last week that officers captured a robbery suspect dressed as a firefighter in the Palisades Fire Zone.
Ivan Cedric Reed, 34, was wearing a yellow firefighter’s uniform and holding a radio when police found him on Clifftop Way in Malibu on Tuesday night, but prosecutors said Reed had stolen stolen property. He was charged with receiving a firefighter, impersonating a firefighter, and unlawful use of a firefighter. Wearing a badge and entering restricted areas without permission.
“We have people who are committed to what they do,” McDonnell said.
Nehle has not been charged with stealing from a vacant home in the Pacific Palisades area, but a person with knowledge of Nehle’s arrest said officers suspected the inside of the fire truck could be used in the robbery. They say they discovered a certain tool. Officials said they also seized maps showing burn areas and radios tuned to frequencies used by city and county fire departments.
The truck, originally used by a Northern California fire department, was decommissioned and auctioned about 30 years ago, officials said.
It’s unclear how long Nehru had been in Los Angeles, but officials said he was deputizing as a firefighter for a free stay at a local Holiday Inn Express.
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