A homeless individual has been suspected for multiple crimes in late May, eventually leading to an arrest by the Santa Monica Police Department with multiple charges against him.
Allen Fransisco Cortis, age 49, has been charged by the LA County District Attorney’s office with two counts of felony arson and one misdemeanor count of giving false information to a police officer. The incident occurred on May 29, when patrol officers responded to radio calls of multiple arsons in the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Lincoln Blvd and the alley east of Lincoln.
Multiple witnesses identified Contis as responsible for setting fire to a discarded tire, a city-owned trash can and a small garage located directly adjacent to a cult-unit apartment complex. Responding officers located and arrested Contis without incident.
Four days prior, at about 11:30pm on May 25, patrol officers responded to a commercial burglary call in the 2900 block of Lincoln, after the owner of the business received an alert from an alarm company that a single suspect (later identified as Contis) entered the business by breaking through a skylight. Responding officers arrived while Contis was still inside and were able to take him into custody without incident.
Contis was issued a citation and released per the LA County Bail Schedule for that incident, and the burglary case will be presented to the District Attorney separate of the arson case.
Anyone who may have information related to the arson incident or Contis is encouraged to contact Detective Hector Tavera or the Watch Commander at (310) 458-8427.
thomas@smdp.com
