Calf. Student Charged in Anti-SUV Arson & Denied Bail

Associated Press
March 18, 2004

LOS ANGELES - A college student with apparent connections to a radical environmentalist group was ordered held without bail Wednesday to face federal charges he firebombed 125 sport utility vehicles.

Billy Cottrell, a 23-year-old graduate physics student from Pasadena, was indicted for allegedly damaging or destroying vehicles at car dealerships and homes in the Los Angeles area last August, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Cottrell has been held without bail since his arrest on March 9.

U.S. Magistrate Carolyn Turchin rejected requests to release Cottrell on bail Wednesday. "Human life is risked by the nature of these offenses," Turchin said.

Cottrell's attorney, Stephen Alexander, said his client was innocent and he planned to appeal the judge's decision.

The indictment said there was evidence Cottrell's co-conspirators had fled the country as a result of the FBI's investigation and would help Cottrell flee as well. Cottrell told a friend he started the fires and that two other people were involved, FBI agents said in court filings.

An arraignment was set for March 29. If convicted of all counts, Cottrell faces a prison sentence ranging from 35 years to life, the U.S. attorney's office said.

According to an FBI affidavit, Cottrell contacted the Los Angeles Times by e-mail using an alias and said he was involved in the firebombings. The California Institute of Technology student signed the e-mails ELF, short for Earth Liberation Front, according to the affidavit. Authorities searched Caltech classrooms and tracked the e-mails to Cottrell.

Investigators say the firebombings hit four car dealerships and at least four privately owned vehicles.

A fire at one dealership destroyed or damaged 72 vehicles, mostly SUVs, and a parts warehouse. Prosecutors estimated the total damage at $2.3 million.

The Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for a string of arsons in Detroit, Philadelphia and San Diego, where a fire last year destroyed a 206-unit apartment complex under construction, doing $50 million worth of damage.