A 32-year-old transient accused of setting fire to four cars in downtown Los Angeles was charged Monday with arson.
David Charles Barton, who faces more than three years in state prison if convicted of four counts of arson, appeared in court this afternoon and pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered Barton held on $200,000 bail.
Barton was arrested early Thursday morning, less than an hour after the first fire was set, according to police.
Two of the car fires were at 11th Street and Olive Avenue. Another vehicle was set on fire at 1025 S. Hill St. and a fourth at Santee Street and Olympic Boulevard.
Barton is due back in court Jan. 5, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing.
— City News Service