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Three caught in revenge Redondo Union High ROTC van arson
by Jason Dietrich
Three people were arrested in last week in connection with the torching of two vans on the Redondo Union High School Campus last month.
A teenaged boy from Torrance, a teenage girl from Redondo and her boyfriend at the time, a 19-year-old Culver City man, were charged with felony arson for setting fire to a pair of vans used by Redondo's Reserve Officer Training Corps. The charge carries a sentence of 16 months to three years in prison.
After their arrest, the youths confessed that they started the fire about 3 a.m. Tuesday, July 11, to "get back at" the head of the ROTC program, whom the young woman carried a grudge against.
"It was interesting how well they planned it. She knew where the vans would be and that they were part of the ROTC program," said Mike Vitalich, a Redondo Beach Police Officer assigned to the school.
The vans were US government property leased by Redondo Union's Marine Corps Junior ROTC program. The confessed arsonists dumped gasoline from a plastic container over the gas tank area of one of the vans and part of the other vehicle. After setting it on fire, they fled.
Trevor Taylor, the 19-year-old suspect, returned about 45-minutes later to watch what was left of the blaze. Taylor has a history of criminal involvement and has charges of burglary and brandishing a handgun pending. Police questioned Taylor that night, but released him, due to insufficient evidence.
An off duty Los Angeles Police Department officer noticed the burning van and called 911. A Redondo officer who happened to be nearby arrived first put out most of the fire with a portable fire extinguisher, before the fire department arrived to finish the job.
One of the vans was destroyed beyond repair, but the other only had minor damage. Several small explosions were heard in the neighborhood when the van's tires popped and the windows shattered. Police said the arson was motivated by the young woman's dislike for Colonel Ken Salasko, Dean of Students at Redondo Union and head of the Junior ROTC program.
"They all gave us confessions and the statements all matched up. They all said it was a direct retaliation," said Vitalich.
As dean of students, Salasko's responsibilities include disciplining students. The young woman had been called into Salasko's office several times for truancy and other misbehavior. Her last disciplinary action was during the regular school year. But she held a grudge against the administrator for her prior punishment, said Vitalich. Though she had registered for summer school, she had dropped out without telling her parents.
Both the young woman and the teenage boy have had minor brushes with the law for misdemeanors like truancy and petty theft. Both could be considered extremely "at risk" said Vitalich. ER