It was a modern-day version of a Wild West “wanted” poster.
An image of a young man was sent on the Citizen personal safety app to users in the Los Angeles basin after a brush fire broke out late Friday night and quickly grew. The post labeled the man as an arson suspect and offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with the Pacific Palisades fire.
Within hours, the app’s million or so users saw the image, and tips poured in to authorities.
But there was one problem: The man was not the person identified by an LAPD helicopter pilot as the one seen igniting multiple fires that eventually swelled to consume more than 1,300 acres between Pacific Palisades and Topanga Canyon.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.