COSTA MESA, Calif.—Police in Costa Mesa arrested a woman on suspicion of arson for allegedly igniting a “combustible materials” fire June 20 inside a room on the fourth floor of a hotel.
Neighboring rooms were evacuated. The woman was treated at the scene, arrested on suspicion of arson and will undergo a mental health evaluation, authorities said.
The woman called police from a room at the Crowne Plaza Costa Mesa Orange County hotel at 3131 Bristol St., and made a threat to harm herself and start a fire, according to Roxi Fyad, a spokesperson for the Costa Mesa Police Department.
“Shortly thereafter, officers arrived at the door to the hotel room the woman called from and could hear the smoke alarm sounding inside the room,” Fyad said. “The woman had barricaded the front door prior to police arrival.”
Officers forced their way into the room and came upon “thick smoke and flames inside the room,” she said.
Firefighters dispatched at 6:30 a.m. had the fire out at 6:44 a.m., according to Capt. Joseph Noceti of the Costa Mesa Fire Department.
