A woman suspected of earlier this month because she was angry at her roommate has been arrested, authorities said Tuesday.
Samantha Scarano, 25, was arrested Monday at a business not far from the damaged building and booked on suspicion of attempted murder, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Tony Moore. She is being held lieu of $1.25 million bail, he said.
Scarano is suspected of tossing a burning can of charcoal fluid into the top-floor unit of the four-story apartment building in the 1400 block of North Sweetzer Avenue.
, which was reported at 1:52 a.m., but the blaze, which Los Angeles County firefighters put out in 20 minutes, caused about $300,000 in damage.
About 100 tenants were evacuated during the fire, according to L.A. County Fire Department Capt. Mark Savage.
"This fire occurred as a result of a dispute between two ex-roommates," he said. "The involved unit was occupied by one female adult at the time of the fire. The occupant safely escaped from the unit."
The sheriff's arson squad said the suspect broke a front window and threw an open container of charcoal lighter fluid with a burning object, possibly paper, into the victim's living room. She positively identified the suspect as her ex-roommate.
The fire caused $200,000 damage to the structure and about $100,000 damage to its contents, as the targeted apartment was gutted, and two apartments below it were damaged by water. The three units were red-tagged -- declared uninhabitable -- pending repairs.
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