Rogelio Andrade

Case overview

Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos were charged in connection with a 1993 apartment fire that killed 10 tenants and injured 40 others. Andrade and Lobos, both 22, were charged with 12 counts of murder—one for each victim and two unborn children—and one count each of arson. Seven children, all under age 12, were among those killed in the May 3, 1993, fire in the Westlake district of Los Angeles. Three women were also killed, two of whom were pregnant.

Authorities said the fire was retaliation against an apartment manager who had begun to report drug activity in the complex to police. Police received new information in May when an informant arrested in a homicide investigation told detectives he knew about the fire. Investigators said the case was difficult to crack because people were too afraid to provide information, and that witnesses and victims were intimidated by gangs.

Andrade and Lobos were arrested on November 26, 1998. They pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Eastlake Juvenile Court. A hearing was scheduled for next month, or perhaps later, to determine whether the two could be tried as adults. Prosecutors later dropped the murder charges, stating there was “insufficient evidence” showing that Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos ignited the fire.

Timeline

• May 3, 1993 — A fire at the 69-unit apartment building at 330 S. Burlington Ave. in the Westlake district of Los Angeles killed 10 tenants and injured about 40 people.
• May — Police received new information from an informant arrested in a homicide investigation who said he knew about the fire.
• November 26, 1998 — Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos were arrested and charged with 12 counts of murder and one count each of arson.
• February — A jury convicted Allan Lobos of second-degree murder.
• February 1998 — The conviction resulted in a sentence of 15 years to life for the second-degree murder.
• January 07, 2000 — Murder charges were dropped against Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos, with the district attorney citing “insufficient evidence”.
• September — Court records showed charges against Andrade and Lobos were actually dropped in September.

The offence

The Burlington fire

The fire was in a 69-unit apartment building at 330 S. Burlington Ave. in the Westlake district of Los Angeles. Authorities said the flames spread quickly and that, as the fire spread, it left many victims unable to escape second and third floor hallways where they suffocated. Investigators said a series of fire doors were propped or nailed open.

The fire exposed substandard conditions in buildings crammed with immigrant families in the Westlake-Pico Union neighborhood. It was also tied to ongoing gang and drug activity in the area.

Victims and pregnancy counts

Seven children, all under age 12, were among those killed in the May 3, 1993 fire. Three women were also killed, and two of whom were pregnant. The charges included one count for each child and adult murdered and two additional counts because Olga Leon, 32, and Rosalia Ruiz, 21, were both pregnant when they died inside the Burlington building.

Investigation

Police and fire investigators suspected gang members were responsible from the beginning but could not identify the perpetrators until new information came forward.

Authorities said the case became actionable after an informant arrested in a homicide investigation told detectives he knew about the fire in May. An informant statement prompted the arrests. Investigators said that “details from the informant was corroborated by facts known from the scene.” The informant was not offered special treatment for making his statement against Andrade and Lobos, and Detective Steven Spear of the LAPD’s Criminal Conspiracy Section said so.

“What’s difficult about it is that a lot of our witnesses and victims were obviously intimated by the gangs. They didn’t want to be the 13th victim,” Sanchez said.

Arson investigator Joe Sanchez announced the names of the dead at a news conference and choked back emotion.

Thomas L. Derby, an arson investigator for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, said:

“It was just a matter of time” before the crime was solved.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Joseph Esposito said:

“It wasn’t clear these were the right guys.” and “No one is thrilled with the idea [of dropping the charges], but we don't want to prosecute innocent people.”

Esposito also said information from witnesses that prompted the arrests did not hold up after subsequent investigation.

Lt. Gary Lynch of the LAPD’s criminal conspiracy section said a task force remained assigned full time to the Burlington fire case and that it was continuing to investigate:

“We're continuing the investigation. We've committed a lot of resources to this case,” Lynch said.

Arrest and initial court proceedings

Rogelio Andrade was arrested last Friday at his home in Hollywood. Allan Lobos was already in state prison at the time, and was serving a 15-years-to-life sentence for two murders.

Andrade and Lobos were arrested in November 1998 and were charged with murder and arson.

Attorney Anthony W. Rayburn, who represented Andrade, said Andrade was not surprised that charges were dismissed but credited the prosecutor with making the right decision:

“It’s not easy dropping a 12-count murder case,” he said.

Rayburn said:

“It's not easy dropping a 12-count murder case” and also: “I believe that investigators have more credible evidence pointing to other suspects and that other arrests might be pending.”

Rayburn also stated that Andrade was “not happy” about being arrested and spending nearly a year in custody before the charges were dropped, and that he was pleased with the results:

“He's pleased with the results . . . but he paid a tremendous cost for being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Rayburn said.

According to Rayburn, investigators had videotape from news coverage of the fire showing Andrade at the scene, and Rayburn said Andrade was only a bystander.

Charges and legal posture before dismissal

Prosecutors said they planned to try Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos, both 22, as adults for the fire they allegedly ignited to intimidate an apartment manager who had tried to drive drug dealers off her property.

In the Burlington arson, Lobos and Andrade were each charged with 12 counts of murder and one count of arson. The next step was a hearing next month, or perhaps later, to determine whether Andrade and Lobos could be tried as adults. If tried outside juvenile justice, they would have been subject to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Sentencing and related imprisonment facts

Allan Lobos remained in state prison, serving time for an unrelated murder. The related sentencing details given were that Lobos shot and killed a 16-year-old boy, Alexandro Garcia, who was waiting for a bus to school, and a jury convicted Lobos of second-degree murder in February, with a 15-years-to-life sentence. The killing was committed within sight of the LAPD’s Rampart Division headquarters.

Outcome

Murder charges were dropped against two 18th Street gang members accused of killing three women—two of them pregnant—and seven children in one of the worst arson fires in Los Angeles history.

The district attorney’s action meant the case remained open. Prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” showing that Rogelio Andrade and Allan Lobos ignited the fire. They said information from witnesses that prompted the arrests did not hold up after subsequent investigation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Joseph Esposito said:

and:

Court records showed that charges were actually dropped in September.

Andrade was set free. Lobos remained in state prison for the unrelated murder.

Aftermath

Civil case settlement

A civil case related to the fire was settled three years earlier. Insurance companies for the building's owner and managers—Richard I. Kaufman and Yale Management Services Inc.—agreed to pay $2 million to the survivors. After attorneys’ fees, some survivors got as little as $198.

One survivor, Elias Verdugo, who lost three children and his wife in the blaze, received more than $500,000 minus attorneys’ fees. Verdugo returned to Chiapas, Mexico, with one son he was able to rescue from the fire.

More than 100 tenants moved after the fire, according to the current management. The apartment manager since 1995, Jose Chavalo, showed refurbished apartments with a new sprinkler system, video surveillance, fire extinguishers, fire hoses and exit signs.

Margarita Polanco said she was glad to hear of the arrests and stated:

“the innocent often pay for the guilty.”

Fire department changes and safety enforcement

After the fire, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that many apartment buildings in the Westlake-Pico Union neighborhood had not been subjected to yearly inspections by the Los Angeles Fire Department, and that some had serious fire safety violations including missing fire extinguishers and padlocked emergency exits. The Burlington building had earlier been the target of an arson, and inspections had detected a series of safety violations that were not corrected.

As a result of the Burlington blaze, the Fire Department implemented a computerized inspection system to help track building inspections. An inspector was immediately added to neighborhood Station 11. A five-member task force was assigned to step up fire code inspections on older apartment buildings in the Westlake area, and the group inspected more than one-third of the 207 buildings targeted for special scrutiny within a week.

Fire Department officials said the stepped-up enforcement was unconnected to the impending criminal filings against Lobos and Andrade.

Neighbourhood and gang-related context

Authorities said the building was a hot spot for 18th Street gang-controlled drug trade around the time of the deadly blaze. LAPD Det. Al Kotero supervised an undercover team in the area at the time and said drug dealers in the neighborhood were pulling down thousands of dollars a day, much of it coming from the Burlington building. Just hours before the blaze erupted, the apartment’s manager ordered two men out of the building, suspecting they were dealing drugs.

A Superior Court judge issued an injunction “in an attempt to limit the activities of the particularly violent 18th Street clique” operating in the Westlake neighborhood.