Investigators sift through ashes in arson cases

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- A pair of arsons that scorched two businesses in

August have come to different resolutions, with an arrest made in one

case and little progress so far in the other.

Police arrested 32-year-old Anaheim resident Andrea Rae Yarbrough on

Sept. 11 in connection with the Aug. 28 arson of the Eastlake Graphics

company on Westerly Place near John Wayne Airport, a fire that caused

about $500,000 in damages.

Yarbrough was employed by Eastlake as a bookkeeper, said Newport Beach

Police Sgt. Mike McDermott. She had been fired shortly before allegedly

setting the blaze.

Police did not release Yarbrough’s name at the time of the arrest

because she had not yet gone through lineups to confirm her identity,

McDermott said.

The suspect made herself easy to track down because she also allegedly

stole payroll checks from Eastlake and was later caught on surveillance

video cashing those checks, he said.

McDermott noted that evidence left at the scene also tied Yarbrough to

the arson.

The case of a second blaze, the Aug. 9 arson of Issay Restaurant on

Old Newport Road, has proved more difficult to solve, McDermott said.

“We haven’t made a lot of progress on it. We’re looking at a couple

possible leads in regards to some employees or maybe some people involved

in the operation,” he said.

A motive for the arson has been difficult for investigators to

determine. The amount of money provided by an insurance policy, McDermott

said, is relatively small. Physical evidence at the scene of the charred

restaurant has not helped to narrow the pool of possible culprits.

“They were able to determine what the accelerant was, and it was

probably gasoline,” McDermott said. “But anybody can go to a gas station.

“It points to arson. That’s about all you can say.”

McDermott said the majority of arsons are committed either for revenge

or for financial gain. Police occasionally come across cases in which an

arsonist lights a fire purely for the pleasure of doing so, but such

situations are rare.