Ontario Mills mall temporarily closed after mulitple fires burned inside; 1 in custody

The Ontario Mills shopping mall was closed on Friday after multiple fires were reported inside, and a man has been arrested in connection with the fires, police said. 

Ontario Fire Department Battalion Chief Scot Roeber said crews received reports of a commercial fire just before 10:30 a.m. at the Ontario Mills mall.  

"First arriving companies found multiple fires in multiple locations in the same vicinity. All of those fires were suspicious, and all of those fires have been extinguished," Roeber said during a Friday afternoon news conference. He clarified that the fires were in several different stores in the same area.

A video from TikTok user SmokingRaysBackyardBBQ showed a blaze inside a True Religion store.  

Ontario Police Department Detective Eliseo Guerrero said police received several calls about a suspicious man setting fires in the mall. "Officers assigned here to the mall quickly located a male in one of the stores," he said, adding that he was arrested.

Officers identified the suspect as Luis Javier Gallegos, 28. Ontario PD said Gallegos refused to comply with officers, resulting in a "use of force" incident. 

An officer sustained minor injuries, and Gallegos was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Ontario PD said he was later released and booked into jail with an arson-related felony.

"There is no active threat here at the Mills right now. We do ask the public to stay out of the area for now," Guerrero said.

The fires were extinguished by noon, and the mall will be closed until further notice.

The nature of the fire is under investigation, and there have been no injuries or deaths.    

The shopping mall is about 10 minutes away from the Kimberly-Clark warehouse that was destroyed by an alleged arsonist on Tuesday. As of Friday afternoon, no connection has been made between the two suspected arsons by law enforcement.

Investigators urged anyone with information on the case to contact Detective Ryan Holmes at (909) 408-1045 or to call the department at (909) 986-6711. Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact WE-TIP at (800) 782-7463 or via their website at www.wetip.com.

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