UPDATED OCT 25 10:30AM | Police on Wednesday named 27 year-old Jacob Lagarde as the man responsible for the Molotov cocktail attack on a Long Beach market that left a 54 year-old man in critical condition with burns from the waist down.
Lagarde, whose extensive criminal record includes drug and violent crime arrests, was arrested at the El Dorado Lakes Apartments in the 7800 block of E. Spring St. at around 8PM Tuesday night.
“We found him through a tip given to detectives,” Sgt. Aaron Eaton of the Long Beach Police Department said. “He ran from the officers when we found him but he was taken into custody without incident.”
Though original reports listed the suspect as being arrested for a parole violation, Lagarde is behind bars as of Wednesday, booked for attempted murder, mayhem, possession of an explosive, arson causing great bodily injury and for a probation violation.
“We still don’t know why this attack occurred,” Eaton said. “That’s why we still want to talk to any witnesses to the crime or anyone who has any information about this suspect.”
ORIGINAL OCT 24 4:49PM | A 27-year-old man is behind bars today, suspected of last Friday’s Molotov cocktail attack that set a 54-year-old man ablaze. The suspect, who has a significant criminal history, was arrested for a parole violation Tuesday night, according to an announcement by the Long Beach Police Department.
The unsettling incident for which the suspect is accused was caught on surveillance camera footage and shows the victim sitting outside of the El Paisano Market on Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Ave. when a perpetrator, seemingly out of nowhere, lights a Molotov cocktail and throws it at the victim’s feet. A fireball explodes around the victim, narrowly missing a woman with a baby in a stroller while the victim, his lower extremities covered in flames, runs into the street.
The suspect has an address in Long Beach, but is associated with an out-of-town gang according to police. The motive is still unclear as it does not appear that the suspect and victim knew each other.
A press conference was being held today where more information will be given. We will post it here as it becomes available.