Calling the Cops

On 05/26/2023, at approximately 1235 hours, I (Officer Rafael #613) was working as a School Resource Officer in the City of Bell Gardens. At this time, I was dispatched to Suva Elementary School regarding an arson investigation. Upon my arrival, I contacted the Principal of Suva Elementary School, later identified as Richard Williams. Richard told me the following in summary: On 05/26/2023, at approximately 1110 hours, Richard was notified by school staff that there was a fire in the girls restroom located on the south east side of campus. Richard went to the girls restroom and observed a gray rubber trashcan on fire inside the girls restroom. Richard contacted the Los Angeles County Fire Department and his staff members immediately used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire. At approximately 1116 hours, the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived on scene and informed Richard that the trashcan was set on fire intentionally, possibly by a Suva Elementary Student. Richard informed me that he does not have any video surveillance cameras near the girls restroom and he is still investigating on who the student(s) caused the fire. Richard stated that there was no damage to the girls restroom due to the fire being extinguished immediately. Richard informed me that he would handle this investigation administratively and he would notify BGPD to assist him in counseling the students about the dangers of fire. I took photos of the scene and later uploaded the photos to the BGPD main server. I also provided Richard with an incident number for his reference.