Two Arrested in Apartment Fire That Killed Three

Two young men who may have been “just messing around” were booked on murder charges in the deaths of three acquaintances who were trapped Saturday in an apartment building fire, Redondo Beach police said Thursday.

Police identified the suspects in the alleged arson fire as Ryan William Rickert, 18, of Manhattan Beach, and Bradey Kenneth Kruse, 19, of Hermosa Beach. The pair are being held without bail.

Redondo Beach Police Lt. Jeffrey R. Cameron said that Rickert and Kruse, who were arrested early Thursday, had implicated themselves in statements to investigators. In addition, he said, physical evidence from the apartment at 1215 Beryl St. led investigators to conclude that the fire had been started deliberately, possibly by charcoal lighter fluid.

Cameron said police are uncertain about the motive. “It may be an immature act--they were just messing around,” he said.

A party had been held at the apartment several hours before the fire, which was reported at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Cameron said. About midnight, at the request of the apartment’s five tenants, the party broke up. Sometime later, the two suspects showed up at the apartment, Cameron said.

Roger Coloma, in whose name the apartment was rented, was one of two tenants who escaped from the fire. He said in an interview Saturday that Rickert and Kruse had entered the apartment, which he said is rarely locked, about 1:30 a.m.--after everyone had gone to bed.

Victims Identified

Coloma, 32, who works for British Petroleum Co., said the two urged him several times to come out of his bedroom to join them for socializing. He said he declined because he was too tired and went back to sleep. Coloma added that he was friendly with the two young men and doubted that they would set a fire out of pique.

Police identified the three who died as David William Weissman, 22, captain of a charter boat service; Lana McLeod, also known as Lana Scudder, 21, a Red Onion restaurant employee, and James Timothy Wooden, 25, an electrical engineer.

In addition to Coloma, David Williams, 29, a tenant who was sleeping on the second floor, managed to escape. He said in an interview that he unsuccessfully tried to rouse Weissman and McLeod but decided to flee when flames coming over a balcony began reaching the roof.

At the Dagwood Deli, where Rickert and Kruse worked as waiters, Angela Lim, who makes sandwiches, said she was shocked to hear of their arrests. “I cannot believe (it) because they seem like normal people,” she said.

She said that Rickert had worked at the sandwich shop, located in the Manhattan Village Mall, slightly more than a year, and that Kruse had begun working there several weeks ago. Lim said the two were friends and that neither was going to school.

Daryl Bactat, a neighbor of Rickert, said his arrest was a “shock.” She described the suspect as a “real nice kid. Not a heavy metaller. Not a doper. Just a genuine, all-American-type kid.”

She said the family moved to the area in the early 1980s. She said Rickert’s father is a woodcrafter and his mother works in the aerospace industry.

The owners of the apartment, identified by police as Frank and Elsa Baraney, face a possible fine of $200 for violating a state law requiring the installation of smoke detectors in all rental apartments. At the time of the fire, the apartment had no smoke alarms.