After a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a blazing inferno on the Hermosa Beach Strand that damaged five homes in all, police released the original suspect and arrested a different man Friday.
Michael Christopher Kotva, 27, who was initially arrested on suspicion of arson, was released with no charges, Hermosa Beach police said. Kotva's mother told NBCLA Thursday after his arrest that he was just in the wrong place and the wrong time, and happened to be walking by when the fire broke out at 2 a.m.
After further investigation, Keith Yessner, 50, of La Quinta, California, was then taken into custody after police reviewed surveillance footage from the home.
Yessner has apparently had other run-ins with Hermosa Beach police, and officers said they recognized him on the video. Neighbors awoke at 2 a.m. Thursday to the 150-foot tall flames swallowing a home under construction in the 800 block of The Strand, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.