Ontario warehouse fire suspect charged with several counts of felony arson
ABC7 Los Angeles • • nation
Key Points:
- Chamel Abdul-Karim, a 29-year-old warehouse employee, has been charged with one count of Aggravated Arson and six counts of Arson-Structure/Forest Land for allegedly starting a massive fire that destroyed a warehouse in Ontario, California.
- Abdul-Karim was arrested shortly after the fire broke out at the Kimberly-Clark Distribution Center, where he worked through a third-party company, and was scheduled for arraignment in Rancho Cucamonga.
- Investigators are reviewing social media video footage showing cases of toilet paper being set on fire inside the warehouse, though they have not confirmed if Abdul-Karim is the person in the video.
- A co-worker initially had no suspicion of Abdul-Karim's involvement, with some employees blaming automated robots for the fire until the video surfaced.
- The fire, which started around 12:30 a.m. and destroyed the over one-million-square-foot facility, was quickly contained with no injuries reported; fire officials suspected arson due to the fire's rapid spread and unusual behavior.
