He pulled up to Palisades fire with a fire engine and an offer to help. It was fake, police say

Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times on Jan 19, 2025

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The fire truck pulled up to a checkpoint Saturday morning near where emergency workers were sifting through the wreckage caused by the Palisades fire.

The driver told the National Guard troops manning the perimeter that he was a volunteer firefighter, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the incident told The Times.

They had little reason to believe otherwise, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak with the media and requested anonymity. The man was wearing a yellow firefighter uniform — and he was driving a full-size red fire engine outfitted with emergency lights, California license plates and an American flag.

But a firefighter at the checkpoint noticed something off about the decals on the truck, which had markings from the "Roaring River Fire Department," the official said. He told Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to check the man's ID.

According to the law enforcement official, the man presented an Oregon driver's license with the name of Dustin Nehl. A search of Nehl's criminal history revealed he had served five years in prison for arson, the official said.

KATU, a Portland TV station, reported that Nehl pleaded guilty in 2017 to setting a series of fires at a golf course, a park and a water facility in Woodburn, Ore., a city about 30 miles south of Portland.

Nehl, 31, and his wife, 44-year-old Jennifer Nehl — who was with him — were arrested on suspicion of impersonating firefighters and unauthorized entry of an evacuation zone, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said Sunday. Sheriff's officials said they planned to ask the Los Angeles County district attorney's office to charge the couple on Tuesday.

Dustin Nehl isn't the first to be accused of impersonating emergency personnel to gain access to an evacuation zone. Last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said his officers caught a burglary suspect in the Palisades fire zone who was dressed as a firefighter.

Ivan Cedric Reed, 34, was wearing a yellow firefighter's uniform and carrying a radio when police found him on Clifftop Way in Malibu on Tuesday evening, prosecutors said in announcing that Reed was charged with receiving stolen property, impersonating a firefighter, unlawful use of a badge and unauthorized entry of a closed disaster area.

"We have people who will go to all ends to do what they do," McDonnell said.

Nehl has not been accused of stealing from unoccupied homes in the Pacific Palisades area, but the source with knowledge of his arrest said deputies found tools in his fire truck that could be used by burglars. They also seized a map showing burn areas and radios tuned to frequencies used by city and county fire departments, the official said.

The truck, originally used by a Northern California fire department, had been decommissioned about 30 years ago and auctioned off, the source said.

It wasn't clear how long Nehl had been in Los Angeles, but the official said he represented himself as a firefighter to get free lodging at a local Holiday Inn Express.