On May 30 at approximately 4:30 a.m.,Santa Monica police officersresponded to an arson call at a gas station located in the 300 block of Pico Boulevard.
Officers were advised by the dispatcher that the suspect, a male in black clothing carrying a backpack, had started a fire by the propane tanks.
Upon arriving on the scene, officers made contact with a subject, later identified as Otto Marion, 46, of Arleta, walking around the gas station lot by a pile of smoldering garbage near a propane tank.
Officers detained Marion as they proceeded to speak with the store's clerk and a witness.
According to the witness, the station's clerk walked outside and woke Marion up, as he was sleeping by a gas pump. As the clerk entered the store, Marion began to collect papers and garbage and proceeded to set them on fire.
Upon detaining and searching Marion, police found he was in possession of a lighter and book of matches. During the transport to jail, Marion admitted to setting the fire. Marion was booked for arson of property and bail was set at $50,000.
Marion had beenarrested on vandalism charges in late April.
