Federal agents have arrested the illegal immigrant who was tackled and zip-tied by onlookers during the California wildfires in a wild scene caught on video.
Residents of Woodland Hills ran down and subdued Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva after they saw him trying to torch debris with what one resident described as a “flamethrower” soon after last year’s massive wildfires began last January.
Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested Sierra-Leyva, 34, for a felony probation violation and suspicion of arson.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s office identified him as a “person of interest” in the Kenneth fire, which burned more than 1,000 acres.
He was held until Thursday, when he was freed from Van Nuys Jail and immediately arrested again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Viral security cam footage shared online showed Sierra-Leyva trying to ignite garbage and old Christmas trees with a blowtorch before neighbors chased him down in the disturbing Jan. 10, 2025, incident.
Local resident Renata Grinshpun said she was in her backyard when she heard a car screech to a stop and a man yelling, “Neighbors, he’s trying to start a fire! Call 911!”
Grinshpun saw Sierra-Leyva holding a large “propane tank or a flamethrower” — which others described as a blowtorch — as he tried to torch debris in the street, she told KTLA at the time.
Neighbors sprang to action and swarmed Sierra-Leyva as he tried to ride off on a bicycle, as caught in the video — with one man yelling at him: “Put it down!”
“We really banded together as a group,” Grinshpun told KTLA. “A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope and we were able to do a citizens’ arrest.”
LAPD officers later came to take Sierra-Leyva into custody, the video shows.
The LAPD responded and arrested Sierra-Leyva, video from the scene shows. The major crimes squad was called in because he was “a possible arson suspect” — but no arson charges were brought immediately against him, LAPD officials said.
It’s unclear if Sierra-Leyva was ever charged with arson.
The Los Angeles District Attorney had no record of his case. Reps for the Ventura County Sheriff and the Los Angeles County Sheriff didn’t respond to requests for information on Sierra-Leyva.
Federal authorities are now seeking his removal from the US.
Sierra-Leyva has a lengthy criminal history and spent more than three years in US jails.
ICE officials said his rap sheet includes aggravated assault, trespassing, amphetamine possession, damaging property, violation of a court order, and disturbing public peace.
Records show Sierra-Leyva has been convicted of multiple crimes in LA County, including assault with a deadly weapon in 2023.
Sierra-Leyva illegally entered the US near Tecate, California, in 2009, according to ICE.
ICE officials placed an immigration detainer on Sierra last January asking that he be kept in custody and handed over to ICE for deportation.
But local authorities refused to honor the detainer and released Sierra-Leyva under California’s sanctuary law, ICE officials said.
The state law, passed in 2017, ensures that no state resources are used to assist federal immigration enforcement.
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in 2024 that prohibits the use of city resources and personnel to carry out federal immigration enforcement.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in February rolled out several anti-ICE measures, including one that will bar federal immigration officers from using or staying at any city-owned facilities.
Bass also created a new law that would impose a fee on Los Angeles property owners who grant site control to the feds.
The embattled Democrat — who previously called for ICE agents to leave the city — said she felt compelled “to protect Los Angeles, unfortunately, from our own federal government.”
California’s anti-ICE laws remain controversial. A federal judge last month blocked another anti-ICE statute that would ban federal agents from wearing masks during law enforcement activity.
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