Fact Check: No, Indian national wasn't arrested for staring fire in LA neighborhood
Fact Check: A post is going viral on social media claiming to show the arrest of an Indian national in connection to an attempt to start a fire in Woodland Hills California.
Fact Check by Logically Facts:
The Verdict [False]
The individual in the viral video has been identified as Juan Manuel Sierra, a Mexican immigrant, not an Indian national named "Bhuvesh Patel."
What is the claim?
A 47-second video is circulating on social media, showing police officers detaining an individual. The video claims that the person is an Indian national named "Bhuvesh Patel," who was apprehended for attempting to start a fire in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, in connection with looting.
The video has a text overlaid on it, which reads, "WE HELPED CATCH A GUY TRING TO START A FIRE ON MY BLOCK." It has surfaced on multiple social media platforms, including X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. An X user posted this video with the caption, "Pajeet, Bhuvesh Patel (Hindu) was caught trying to start a fire with torch blower for looting in areas devastated by fires Woodland Hills, CA" At the time of writing this check, the post had amassed over 132,000 views and more than 1,000 shares. Archived versions of this and other similar posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
However, we found that the individual detained in the viral video has been identified as a Mexican immigrant named Juan Manuel Sierra, not an Indian national named "Bhuvesh Patel."
What are the facts?
After conducting a Google search with relevant keywords, we found several news articles about the incident, confirming that an individual named Juan Sierra was arrested following allegations from residents of an LA neighborhood that he was attempting to start a fire.
According to a news report (archived here) published on January 14, 2025, by the Los Angeles Times, Juan Manuel Sierra, 33, also known as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Thursday. Sierra was found in possession of a blowtorch and was taken into custody for violating felony probation after allegedly attempting to start a fire in a West Hills neighborhood, close to the site of the Kenneth fire.
Furthermore, a Newsweek report, which also identified the arrested individual as Juan Manuel Sierra, included visuals from a different angle similar to the viral video. The video in the report shows a man in a black outfit being confronted by Woodland Hills residents. He is seen near a tree on the sidewalk before being taken into custody by police officers.
Both the viral video and the Newsweek footage also displayed similar blue, black, and green garbage cans, along with a person dressed in gray and black clothing with long hair, and a bicycle on the road.
We also found an official statement by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) corroborating news reports that identified the individual as Juan Manuel Sierra, a Mexican citizen. The ICE statement headlined: "Statement by ICE on a person of interest being held in connection with the California fires" noted that "Juan Manuel Sierra, 33, aka Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, Juan Leva, Leyva Moniker, and Juan Sierra, is a Mexican national who entered the U.S. unlawfully at an unknown date and location without inspection by an immigration official.” It added that the LAPD arrested Sierra on January 10 on a felony probation violation.
Furthermore, a reverse image search on the keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple user-generated videos on social media. An Instagram user, 'reresellsvroomvrooms' shared this clip with similar overlaid text (archived here and here) on January 10, 2025, and stated in the comments that they filmed it.
The verdict
Multiple reports, including confirmation from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), identify the individual in the viral video as Juan Manuel Sierra, a Mexican immigrant, who was apprehended for attempting to start a fire with the intent to loot in Woodland Hills.
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by Logically Facts, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)