A Trump-loving arsonist and his registered Republican wife were arrested in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles after they were spotted driving an old decommissioned fire engine inside the perimeter of the disaster zone on Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Oregonians Dustin Nehls, 31, whose Facebook posts make his Trump fandom unambiguous, and Jennifer Nehls, 44, Republican, were both dressed as firefighters when they pulled up to a National Guard checkpoint, claiming they were with a volunteer department somewhere in northern California. The troops waved them through, though an actual firefighter noticed something was off about the truck bearing decals saying “Roaring River Fire Department,” asking a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy also manning the checkpoint to investigate the suspicious couple.
Turns out Dustin did five years in the joint for arson after a series of fires he set at a golf course, a public park, and a water facility in the city of Woodburn (lol), about 30 miles south of Portland. The Roaring River Fire Department does not and never did exist, though the truck itself was obviously was the real thing before being decommissioned and auctioned off in the 1990s by a department somewhere in northern California. It’s unclear how the Nehls acquired it, but their intent was less mysterious as cops found tools that could be used for burglaries and shirts saying “Cal Fire.”
Also unclear is how long the two had already been in Los Angeles, though it’s known that Nehls passed himself off as a fireman to get a free room at a Holiday Inn Express for at least one night, meaning it’s possible he said “I’m not a real firefighter, but I did stay at a-” while being interrogated by sheriff’s deputies. The Los Angeles DA’s office expects to charge the Nehls on Tuesday.
