Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
An Indian Hindu man, Bhuvesh Patel, caught attempting to start a fire with a blowtorch in wildfire-hit Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
Fact
Claim is false, suspect identified as Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva.
A 47-second video, purportedly showing police officers apprehending a man by pinning him to the pavement next to a house, has gone viral with the claim that it shows an Indian Hindu man, Bhuvesh Patel, caught attempting to ignite a blaze with a blowtorch in Woodland Hills in wildfire-hit Los Angeles, California.
“An Indian Hindu Bhuvesh Patel was caught trying to start a fire with a torch blower for looting in areas devastated by fires. location Woodland Hills, CA. Is this the kind of visa holders Elon is inviting to the USA through H1B visa,” read one such X post, sharing the video. The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The claims have gone viral against the backdrop of the intense online hate campaigns targeting Indians following the recent debate in the US over the H-1B visa programme. Devastating wind-fed fires have reportedly killed at least 24 people and swept through 37,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area in California, destroying entire communities and more than 12,000 structures.
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Bhuvesh Patel Indian Woodland Hills fire blowtorch”, which did not lead us to any credible news reports about such an incident.
We next ran a search for “Woodland Hills man caught blowtorch”, which led us to multiple news reports, seen here and here, stating that a group of residents in Woodland Hills helped arrest a man who was allegedly trying to start fires.
Newschecker then came across this Fox 11 Los Angeles news report on Youtube, headlined “Man with blowtorch detained in Woodland Hills”, dated January 10, 2025, stating, “Residents in Woodland Hills made a citizen arrest after they saw a man with a blowtorch attempting to set Christmas trees and garbage cans on fire. Police say this person may be tied to the Kenneth Fire. California fires are wreaking havoc on Los Angeles as crews battle several massive blazes, including the Kenneth Fire, Sunset Fire, Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Lidia Fire, Hurst Fire and Woodley Fire. Areas impacted include the Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, West Hills, Altadena, Pasadena, Sylmar, Acton and parts of Ventura County.”
Screengrabs of the viral video (left) and the video in the Fox News report.
From the 01:02 mark we can see the incident, apparently from another camera angle compared to the viral video. A comparison of a couple of frames, considering the home, vehicle, police officers, the nearby trash cans, cycle and onlookers, confirms that it is the same incident in the viral video.
“Around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, law enforcement officers responded to reports of a man attempting to light a fire behind a van on the 21700 block of Ybarra Road in Woodland Hills. On Friday morning, Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dominic Choi, told reporters that authorities did not have enough probable cause to charge the suspect of any arson crimes…According to a witness, the man is believed to be in his mid-20s and speak Spanish as his first language,” read an Independent report, dated January 10, 2025.
A further search led us to multiple news reports, seen here, here and here, identifying the accused as Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, who is an illegal immigrant. None of the reports mention an Indian Hindu man nor the accused being identified as Bhuvesh Patel, as claimed in the viral posts, while stating that the investigation is ongoing and that the person was arrested on felony probation violation.
The reports led us to this January 13, 2025 X post by Bill Melugin, LA-based national correspondent for Fox News, stating that as per ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) sources, the man seen in a viral video being subdued by residents & arrested by police w/ a blowtorch near the #KennethFire in West Hills is an illegal alien from Mexico named Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva. According to the reports, the ICE is planning to place a detainer request on him and he will appear in court on Monday. The Kenneth Fire burned through 1,000 acres in the West Hills area, forcing mandatory evacuations
Also Read: AI-Generated Photos Of Shreyas Iyer With Dhanashree Verma Go Viral
Conclusion
Viral video shared with false claim that an Indian Hindu man, Bhuvesh Patel, was arrested in a Los Angeles neighbourhood attempting to ignite a blaze.
Result: False
Result
X post, Bill Melugin, January 13, 2025
The Independent report, January 10, 2025
Youtube video, Fox 11 Los Angeles, January 10, 2025
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
