Snapchat videos, one of which shows flames burning in the background, helped investigators track down a group of teenagers suspected in a string of arsons around Belmont Shore, including a fire that gutted Dogz Bar and Grill last month, according to court documents.
The three 14-year-olds were posting on the social media site before dawn on June 12, which was around the same time three trash cans, a palm tree and Dogz were set ablaze, according to a search warrant filed in Long Beach Superior Court.
The warrant, which asked for permission to search one of the teenagers’ homes, said investigators discovered the Snapchat videos the next day.
“These videos were seen on [S]napchat feeds depicting the suspects at the time of the fires, and [they] are walking in the areas of where the fires occurred,” the warrant says. “One video depicts a fire burning in the background.”
Based on his Snapchat ID, investigators started GPS tracking one of the teens, eventually swooping in to take him and another one of the boys into custody when they posted a video together on June 16, the warrant says.
Authorities arrested the third 14-year-old three days later. School officials had already helped investigators identify him from the Snapchat videos, the warrant says.
In a statement last month, fire officials said they believed the boys were responsible for at least five fires: “Three trash fires with one fire that damaged a fence, one palm tree fire, and the fire at Dogz Bar and Grill where conservative damage estimates are at $160,000.”
The blaze at Dogz also injured a firefighter, giving him second-degree burns on both hands, according to authorities.
In the June statement, investigators said they were still trying to determine whether the boys were connected to a sixth small fire at Naples Elementary School.
All three boys were booked into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall after they were arrested, but it’s unclear what’s happened since then because criminal proceedings for minors are kept private.
Two of the boys are from Naples Island, and the third is from East Long Beach, according to authorities.