Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

California

Witness: Los Angeles arson suspect mad about police killings

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 19a14222-
    Image 1 of 3

    Dawud Abdulawali is ordered to stand trial on arson charges during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Abdulawali, 57, is accused of starting the Dec. 7, 2014, fire that gutted the seven-story Da Vinci complex, blew out windows at adjacent downtown office towers and caused an estimated $100 million in damage. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (The Associated Press)

  • e1c99962-
    Image 2 of 3

    Dawud Abdulwali, right, leaves Los Angeles Superior Court after a preliminary hearing in his arson case in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Abdulawali, 57, is accused of starting the Dec. 7, 2014, fire that gutted the seven-story Da Vinci complex, blew out windows at adjacent downtown office towers and caused $100 million in damage. He is due back in court for arraignment later this month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (The Associated Press)

  • e1c99962-
    Image 3 of 3

    Dawud Abdulwali sits in court during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Abdulwali is accused of starting a 2014 fire that gutted a seven-story complex and damaged adjacent downtown office towers. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (The Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES – A witness has testified that the man charged with sparking an inferno that destroyed an unfinished Los Angeles apartment building bragged about the blaze at a party and was angry about high-profile police killings of African-Americans.

The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/1ZFflmB ) that the testimony came Tuesday during a preliminary hearing in the arson case against Dawud Abdulwali. The 57-year-old is accused of starting a 2014 fire that gutted a seven-story complex and damaged adjacent downtown office towers.

The witness, Popaul Tshimanga, says he and Abdulwali attended a party a week later. Tshimanga says Abdulwali ranted about the August 2014 killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

The witness testified that Abdulwali also said he burned the building.

___

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/