The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the assailant who lit a 73-year-old man on fire in midday outside his Paramount home.
Supervisor Janice Hahn recommended the reward in the case of Leonard Taylor, who is still hospitalized following the March 5 unprovoked attack in which he was approached from behind and struck in the head before his attacker ignited his clothing.
Investigators said a flammable liquid or aerosol of some type was probably used to spark the blaze. The fire caused severe burns to Taylor’s back, head, face, upper body and right hand.
Taylor did not see who assaulted him in the 16600 block of Indiana Avenue, but his daughter Angela said the crime took place “on a very busy street corner.”
“He was able to have the wherewithal to call 911 and to get himself emergency services, but had he not, he certainly would not have survived,” she told the board. “He sustained second- and third-degree burns over the upper part of his body, and after four and a half weeks, he’s still lying in the hospital in the ICU.”
His family and deputies hope a reward will help prompt reluctant witnesses to come forward.
Anyone with information was urged to call the sheriff’s Arson Explosives Detail at 323-881-7500, and tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.