LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Harry Burkhart, suspected in a string of arsons in Los Angeles, brought a fire-starting device to the German consulate after the first fires, investigators say.
A security guard photographed the device, which Burkhart allegedly put on the floor in a hallway, KTLA-TV reported. Burkhart, who was at the consulate seeking help because his mother had been detained, later retrieved the device.
Burkhart, 24, a German national, is being held in lieu of $2.85 million bail. His mother, Dorothee Burkhart, 53, is also in detention and faces deportation to Germany, where she is charged with fraud.
Investigators say the device photographed at the consulate is like the ones used in many of the fires. At least 50 blazes were reported in Los Angeles, mostly in Hollywood, West Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills and the San Fernando Valley.
Burkhart now faces 37 counts of arson although prosecutors say more charges are likely. He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 24.
The mother and son lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, before moving to Los Angeles, and Canadian investigators are now looking into fires there.
