Man Cleared in SUV Fires Gets Apology, Cash

West Covina apologized Friday and agreed to pay $20,000 to Josh Connole, a 25-year-old antiwar activist arrested in attacks on four car dealerships and later released.

Six months after Connole’s release, a 23-year-old Caltech graduate student, William Jensen Cottrell, was arrested in last summer’s arson and vandalism spree, which had caused more than $3.5 million in damage.

Cottrell, who has been indicted and is being held without bail, was identified after officials traced a series of e-mails he allegedly sent boasting of the crimes and taunting the FBI.

In a written statement released Friday, West Covina acknowledged that Connole, who was never charged in the case, was picked up on an FBI arrest warrant Sept. 13, held for four days and publicly identified as a suspect in the investigation of acts of domestic terrorism.

“The West Covina Police Department regrets the adverse effects of the investigation of Mr. Connole,” the statement said.

Connole said he was satisfied with the statement and the $20,000 he received to cover legal expenses.

“I feel West Covina did the right thing,” he said. “They made a mistake. I accept their apology.”

Last August’s early-morning firebombings of sport utility vehicles, carried out in less than three hours, damaged or destroyed about 125 cars and a commercial building in the San Gabriel Valley.

From the moment the fires were extinguished, federal law enforcement authorities worried that a wave of terrorism by environmental extremists was about to sweep across Southern California.

Three weeks after the fires, the FBI requested the arrest of Connole, an outspoken environmentalist and antiwar activist who matched the general description of one of two men caught on a security videotape at one of the dealerships.

Interviews and court records show that officials’ suspicions of Connole grew when a bloodhound matched the scent of a lighter found at one dealership with a scent found at Connole’s home in Pomona.

“They came after me with no evidence except for the bloodhound evidence, which is pretty shoddy,” Connole said after Cottrell’s arrest.

West Covina said Friday that its statement and payment resolved a claim filed several months ago by Connole.

“The unusual circumstances of this case resulted in Mr. Connole not being charged for the crimes of which he was accused by the federal government,” Police Chief Frank Wills said in Friday’s statement. “In these types of situations, it is regrettable that such circumstances occurred, but the city acted in good-faith reliance upon the federal arrest warrant.”