Mother of Los Angeles arson suspect arrested in German case

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The mother of a man accused in a string of arson fires across Los Angeles has been arrested at the request of German authorities in an unrelated case, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

 Dorthee Burkhart was in custody on a provisional arrest warrant sought by German authorities and faces a detention hearing in federal court later in the day, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

"Germany has not officially requested the extradition," Mrozek added, saying that a provisional warrant was typically the first step in an extradition. He declined to say what charges Burkhart faced in Germany.

Her son, 24-year-old Harry Burkhart, was arrested on Monday and booked on suspicion of arson in connection with 53 fires set across Los Angeles and West Hollywood over the holiday weekend.

The first of blazes broke out on Friday and the rash of fires, most of them set in cars and parking structures, some spreading to carports and homes, continued into the early morning hours of Monday.

The arsons, which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said caused an estimated $3 million in damage, left residents on edge during the holiday weekend, as fires broke out seemingly at random across neighborhoods and sirens screamed through the night.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has called the person who set the fires "perhaps (the) most dangerous arsonist in the County of L.A. that I can recall."

The younger Burkhart was taken into custody after a reserve Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy spotted him driving a van similar to one being sought in connection with the string of arsons. He was booked on suspicion of arson and was expected to face charges on Wednesday.

 Los Angeles Police Chief Charles Beck has said he believes that the younger Burkhart is a German national, but has declined to discuss the mother's legal case.

Beck, however, has said that a break in the arson investigation came after federal authorities "who have been privy to removal hearings" had recognized Harry Burkhart from surveillance videotape taken near several of the fires. Beck appeared to be referring to proceedings involving Dorothee Burkhart.

The spate of fires caused no fatalities but one firefighter was injured and another person suffered from smoke inhalation during a blaze that broke out on New Year's Eve.

One of the fires damaged a house in the Hollywood Hills where late rocker Jim Morrison was inspired to write the 1968 song "Love Street" about his girlfriend.