Transient Arrested for Starting Fire in Amtrak Station
Source: Santa Barbara Police Department
On October 21, 2021, around 9:20pm, the Santa Barbara Police Department received a report from an Amtrak employee about a subject that had just started a fire inside the Amtrak Station located at 209 State Street. The subject was still on scene and the employee reporting the incident provided a description of the individual to dispatchers.
Santa Barbara Police Officers, Santa Barbara City Fire Department, and Amtrak Police responded to the reported fire. Santa Barbara Police Officers and Amtrak Police Officers arrived on scene and the subject that started the fire was identified by an Amtrak employee. Officers immediately noticed a strong smell of smoke coming from the lobby of the Amtrak Station. It appeared the subject had used newspapers to start a fire in the non-operable fireplace located inside the passenger waiting area. An Amtrak employee used a fire extinguisher to put the flames out before the fire could spread.
The subject was identified as Lonniel Morgan, a 63-year-old transient. Morgan had just come to Santa Barbara on a previous Amtrak train earlier that morning.
A witness who observed this incident stated they observed Morgan standing in front of the fire and appeared to be warming himself. There were numerous passengers in the lobby when smoke started billowing out of the non-operable fireplace and filling the station before being extinguished by an Amtrak employee. This witness also positively identified Morgan as the subject that started the fire.
Morgan was placed under arrest and booked in Santa Barbara County jail for Arson (felony), and Arson During a State of Emergency (felony). He is being held on $350,000 bail.
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24 Comments
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Oct 25, 2021 09:58 AMInteresting line dangles in a NewsPress article today aboutcity council allocation of special CDBG funding: Number one is "serving low and moderate-income residents. Number two priority is "reduce violence in the projects". Please tell us more. "Reduce violence in the projects"?
And we want to provide even more government housing projects for this never-ending group of grateful recipients? There is more to this story. Pay attention as these are your tax dollars; not the city councils play money to hand out.
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Oct 25, 2021 10:59 AMCDBG dollars are intended to reduce blight; not increase it. They are actually intended to gentrify blighted neighborhoods in order to see property tax revenues increase. And all we get is the demand for more police expense in our CDBP projects? Let's learn more about this one-way drain on our tax dollars.
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Oct 25, 2021 10:36 AMBYZ - if you hate your tax dollars going to help your fellow human beings, stop paying them. By all means, stop paying taxes or move to another country.
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Oct 25, 2021 09:46 AMBut I was told the homeless trouble makers were always homegrown and they just couldn't afford housing here?!?! Surely this cannot be true!
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Oct 25, 2021 09:17 AMmore info...i spoke to a friend that is a traffic cop in town. this guy that started this fire is a parole, with history of arson and other nasty crimes. this guy was just bad all around. leave it to the media to omit some pretty serious details. painting the guy like he's a old man who was cold. glad he's locked up TBH, after hearing more about this person.
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Oct 24, 2021 12:34 PMHi defense atty- How was he to know it was inoperable? Was there signage? Would you prefer he go outside and light a fire?
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Oct 23, 2021 03:52 PMhe got off the train too early. He could have gone to Seattle and burned as many federal buildings as he wanted to without consequence
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Oct 25, 2021 02:44 PMplease explain
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Oct 25, 2021 02:39 PM2:04 - lol... so because they haven't arrested a person yet, it never happened? What a joke.
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Oct 25, 2021 02:25 PM2:04 PM - Wow. Just wow. Delusional doesn't even begin to describe your rambling.
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Oct 25, 2021 01:37 PMThe fringes on the far right and far left are crazy. It’s sad/crazy that both currently hold as much sway as they do.
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Oct 25, 2021 01:04 PMdomestic terrorists? oh you mean the right wing groups like the proud boys and boogaloos that are going to the NW to counter protest and start fights and riots and pretend they are cops and army guys? yeah i'd certainly consider them domestic terrorists.
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Oct 25, 2021 11:03 AM10:52 - don't forget the "protesters" that tried to "Hang Mike Pence!" or their buddies who planted pipe bombs around the US Capitol building.
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Oct 25, 2021 10:52 AMSeattle, where the are actually domestic terrorists (vs. those scary and angry parents and school board meetings). https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/spd-rioters-tried-trap-officers-inside-burning-precinct-using-rebar-concrete/5AERWGBGYJE7DC6CLW3PEKKAEE/
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Oct 25, 2021 07:41 AMBecause this is real.
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Oct 22, 2021 09:25 PMSame reaction here. Sheesh, that bail amount is all I took away from this bit of news. While white-collar crime actually costs people, and crimes that hurt people get lower bails... ridiculous.
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Oct 22, 2021 04:22 PMQuasi federal property? Arson is a first level felony.
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Oct 22, 2021 03:45 PMA freaking accused child rapist is only being held on $200K bail! This is absurd! Dudley is a joke.
https://keyt.com/lifestyle/community/2021/10/22/lompoc-man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-multiple-child-sex-crimes/
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Oct 22, 2021 03:40 PMSB’s political leaders have rolled out the red carpet for these types, so … you know the old saying, “you reap what you sow”. Can’t wait to see how the SB voters vote here in a week and a half. Ultimately it’s up to voters to decide if they will tolerate these kinds of crimes happening daily in their city while they’re paying for it.
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Oct 22, 2021 03:38 PMI'm quite sure that was a working fireplace originally when the building was built. Whose decision was it during the very expensive renovation to remove that functionality?
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Oct 22, 2021 03:27 PMWOW. A guy with an illegal gun, arrested for road rage while USING that gun as a threat, is booked with $50K bail. Light a fire in a fire place on a cold October night and gets 7x that.
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Oct 22, 2021 03:35 PMthis is way too harsh and i hope this is thrown out. cmon...the guy was cold. it was a fire place. all of the charges are ridiculous. a felon for being cold.
if anyone should have been let go, it's this guy. give him a 1 way ticket to santa maria.
CHIP and I never agree...but we certainly agree here....
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Oct 22, 2021 03:09 PMSeems like a pretty harsh penalty for lighting a fire in a fireplace. I bet he will learn his lesson and light his next fire outdoors
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Oct 22, 2021 03:33 PMok....and your point is?