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Police Arrest Man After Molotov Cocktails Found Near Hiking Trail

HONG KONG, CHINA - NOVEMBER 28: Molotov cocktails are seen on a wall inside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on November 28, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. The Hong Kong police returned control of Polytechnic University on Friday, ending a two-week siege since anti-government protesters fortified the campus with firebombs, bricks and large slingshots after transforming cafeterias into communal mess halls, a basketball court into sleeping quarters and common rooms into rudimentary weapon factories. Located next to a bypass linking Hong Kong Island with the city’s mainland, the university campus had seen some of the worst violence since the six-month crisis with fierce clashes between riot police and protesters as investigators reportedly collected almost 4,000 firebombs within the campus on Thursday together with other explosive items, bows and arrows, and other primitive weapons. Universities across Hong Kong became the centers for protesters after the death of a student, Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from a parking garage during a police operation. Demonstrations in Hong Kong have continued for the past sixth months, as pro-democracy groups won the recent District Council elections, continuing demands for an independent inquiry into police brutality, the retraction of the word

Molotov cocktails are seen on a wall inside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on November 28, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]

Kevin Harness Contributor
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Police arrested a Los Angeles man after an individual reportedly discovered multiple molotov cocktails Saturday in a wooded area next to a trail in the Santa Monica Mountain Recreation Area.

The individual reported the discovery to a California State Park Ranger, who then located the molotovs and called in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Los Angeles City Fire Department’s Arson Section, according to a news release from the LAPD. (RELATED: Shocking Video Shows Molotov Cocktail Attack, Deli Exploding Into Flames)

LAPD officers from the West Valley Division and Emergency Services Division, Hazardous Material Section arrived on the scene to recover eight molotov cocktails and gasoline containers, according to the release.

The suspect has been identified as Los Angeles resident Maksim Klimenko, 34, based on evidence that was found at the scene, the LAPD said.

Similar arson-related crimes involving the use of molotov cocktails have occurred, like in early January when a suspect reportedly threw a molotov cocktail into a New York apartment building, injuring four people, according to the Forest Hills Post.

In early March, a suspect reportedly threw a molotov cocktail through the window on the first floor of a Pennsylvania boarding house, which triggered the building’s sprinkling system, containing the fire to the area where the cocktail landed. No one was harmed during the incident, according to Fox 43.