>> this morning, around 3:00 a.m., the sheriff's department detained a 24-year-old man named harry burkeheart. he's been charged with one count of arson. >> reporter: police say he is a german national. for now, he's been charged with one count of arson and is being held without bail. it's also still unclear if he acted alone. >> there are some indicators that he may be a lone actor. but we do not know that yet. >> reporter: burkehart was arrested. he made the trap stop when he saw the man had a resembled this surveillance video. >> thank you to the two officers who backed me up. as soon as i put on my lights and initiated a traffic stop of the suspect vehicle, i had an lapd vehicle behind me ready to go. >> reporter: officials say more charges are expected against burkehart after fires had a terrorized a community and caused nearly $3 million in damage. stephanie stanton, nbc news, los angeles. >>> iraq war veterans suspected of killing a ranger at mount are a near national park has been found dead inside that park. 24-year-old ben gentleman man barns was discovered partially submerged in a

two police officers arrived after the traffic stop and arrested 24-year-old harry burkeheart. they are sure they have the right man. >> we are very confident in this arrest that we have a long way to go. >> police release surveillance video to the public yesterday. that video led to tips that the man in the footage was burkeheart. most of the fires were set in carports or garages next to apartment buildings. police aren't saying how the fires were started. >>> other bay area headline, fire crews believe another office equipment started a fire. it broke out an the 11th floor in a building downtown. the size of the building, they called in for a third. there were minor smoke and water damage. >>> starting today, the city of alameda has more places where smokers cannot light up. under a new ordinance, smoking is now banned in all outdoor public places. that includes dining and recreation areas, bus stops, atm's, and shopping malls. tobacco shops are included, including popular hooka bars. >>> and plastic bag ban took effect in san jose and marin county. 5,000 retailers. in san jo

. >>> a german man arrested for a string of arsons will be in court today. 24-year-old harry burkeheart is being held without bail of one count of arson. he may have been angry because his mother quasarsed on fraud charges and faces extradition. the fires started the next day. >>> san francisco sheriff michael is looking forward to his last official act in office today. he will chrisen a wrecking ball that will start the depression era of county jail number three in san bruno. he promised to close that jail when he first ran for sheriff 32 years ago. the last prisoner was transferred out of that building five years ago. he is retiring this month. >>> oakland police are pleading for witnesses to come forward and help identify the man that shot and killed a five-year-old boy. funeral services for gabriel martinez junior is set for this friday. he was shot last week outside of his father's taco truck. the boy's father said the gunman ordered food and pulled a gun and opened fire. police say a lot of people were present and they are frustrated more tips have not come in. >> we don't want to

now two other countries are looking for possible evidence against harry burkeheart. >>> senator johnps moment on the campaign trail. >>> we'll tell you more about the morning commute and the bay weather. >>> welcome back to the ktvu channel 2 morning news. i want to take you live to new york. the big board. dow jones down 80 points to 12, 337. that is surprising because we did have some good news on the jobs front. the unemployment rate down 200,000 new jobs created. but couple of stops best buy in this morning with a drop in december same store sales. pretty big month for best buy too. >>> 6:54. orange county homeless men are being encouraged to sleep in shelters or in groups to help protect them from a serial killer. anaheim police released these images. this shows the moments before someone stabbed 53-year-old james to his death. he was sleeping at a shopping center on december 20th. since then two other men have been killed as they slept. police believe the killer is driving a white toyota corolla. you see it right there at the top left of your screen. >>> the investigation of th

beginning last week when 24-year-old harry burkeheart yelled obscenity and said the f word toward the united states at his mother's extradition hearing. two days after christmas, that helped lead to his arrest when an official recognized the accused arsonist in surveillance video. his mother, dorothy, was in federal court again yesterday, fight ago german arrest warrant for 19 counts of fraud. one, for faming to pay a german doctor $10,000 for breast implants. yesterday things got a little hysterical. when she suggested nazis may have taken her son. >> miss burkeheart posed the question to both the audience in court and to the judge, where is my son? i haven't heard from my son since yesterday. indicating that she is not aware that her son has been taken into custody in relation to the arson incident. >> it appears tore thee, who entered the u.s. illegally, was running a socks parlor out of the apartment she shared with her son, charging men $160 per visit. german prosecutors suspect he may have burned down the family home near frankfort in october for insurance money. neighbors previ

the suspect harry burkeheart is held on $250,000 bail and say he resembles a person of interest capturede surveillance video. he was arrested earlier today. 53 suspicious fires have been set since friday. mostly parked cars estimated at $2 million. back to greta. >> greta: right now there is blood on the floor in iowa as the republican candidates dual each other. at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow, iowa voters kick off the nominating process. but one leader says the first votes are not just for the republican candidate. today, rnc chairman reince priebus post on facebook 2012 is finally here and tomorrow the fight to defeat barack obama officially begins with the first votes cast against him in iowa. we are one step closer to remove him from office and elect republican presence this year. chairman priebus joins us. good evening, sir. >> hey, how are you, greta? >> greta: i am very well. thank you. you look at this much differently than the candidates. you have a big picture look at this. you are head of the rnc. tell me what is your strategy for defeating president obama, since that is the goal in th

those words spoken by 24-year-old harry burkeheart.ous over his mother's deportation battle. he closely resembles the man here in the surveillance video, caught by a reserve deputy ho worked a couple hours a week. he stopped the suspect's van because it matched one seen by witnesses. >> we had a chance to run and show what can happen when people get together. >> gretchen: damage from the fires estimated at $3 million. >>> the man believed to have shot and killed a ranger and a mother of two at a national park in oregon has been found dead. 24-year-old benjamin barns was found wearing a t-shirt and one shoe. investigators say he likely froze to death. he's accused of shoot ranger margaret anderson with a high powered assault rifle after shooting and wounding four others at a house party. >>> he thought it was all over. the father who lost control of his car and plunged into an icy utah river says he's thankful for the total strangers who saved his life and the lives of his children. >> they jumped in and they spotted it and they made al

harry burkeheart will be arraigned today. >>> we first told you about it yesterday, the murder investigationte. today there are new details, police digs through past cold cases all across the country looking for a connection to the woman found dead on the estate on new year's day. police say the body may have been lying in the woods for up to four months. >>> the u.s. reportedly made a deal now with the taliban, agreeing, quote, in principle to release taliban officials from gitmo. in return, afghan insurgents agreed to open a political office for peace negotiations. there is president obama word if american soldier beau, captured by the taliban, could be freed in this plan as well. >> brian: taliban leaders, they don't have officials -- taliban leaders are going to be allowed out of gitmo who everybody agrees with the worst of the worst. that is incredible. >> steve: remember, taliban, not our enemy. >> brian: i heard about that. >> gretchen: according to the vice president. >> steve: yeah. it is now 11 minutes after the top of the hour on this post-caucus wednesday. next up, how the main s