A $25,000 reward has been approved for information leading to an arrest of the ecoterrorists who attacked several sports utility vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley.
25 year old Pomona man, Josh Connole, was arrested in connection with the vandalism and arson attacks on high priced SUVs and Hummers at several San Gabriel Valley dealerships.
Attorney Michael Mayock, representing convicted client Billy Cottrell, seeks a verdict reversal for the 2003 fire-bombing of sport utility vehicles (SUV) at a San Gabriel Valley automobile dealership. He says the jury did not know about Cottrell's Asperger's Syndrome, a neurological disorder. Cottrell's prison situation is 'nightmarish.'
Authorities are seeking second suspect seen on the dealership tapes. ELF says arrest won't stop them. Related story talks about co-op where suspect Joshua Connole lived.
Authorities say an E-mail unlocked a door into a string of vandalism and arson cases at SUV dealerships and led to the arrest of William Jensen Cottrell.
Billy Cottrell, a Cal Tech graduate student who took part in a fire bombing spree that caused millions of dollars in damage to SUV dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley, was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison. See inset for chronology of ecoterror events.
Caltech graduate Tyler Johnson, who had been identified as a suspect in the firebombing and vandalism of more than 130 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at automobile dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003, has died in an avalanche while hiking in the Corsian mountains in France on December 26, 2009. Johnson has been a fugitive for the past six years. Surveillance cameras captured Johnson and William ("Billy") Cottrell spray painting environmental slogans on the cars at Rusnak Mercedes Benz in Arcadia in 2003. Cottrell was convicted.
Cal Tech student William Jensen Cottrell, allegedly connected with an ecoterrorist group in connection with vandalism at Rusnak Mercedes-Benz and other car dealershships in the San Gabriel Valley, was arrested by the FBI.
The car dealerships hit by ELF vandalism were back to business on Sunday. Ecoterrorists attacks destroyed 20 Hummers and other SUVs were damaged in the San Gabriel Valley.
The FBI has discussed the SUV vandalism with Pasadena City College and is investingating the use of a CalTech computer linked with the ecoterrorist ELF attacks which caused $2.5 million in damage.
The FBI has discussed the SUV vandalism with Pasadena City College and is investingating the use of a Caltech computer linked with the ecoterrorist ELF attacks which caused $2.5 million in damage.
FBI officials have new leads after viewing a videotape of two men vandalizing San Gabriel Valley auto dealerships, including Rusnak Mercedes-Benz in Arcadia. ELF has claimed responsibility for the vandalism on SUVs and Hummers vehicles.
A federal apeals court overturned William Cottrell's (aka Billy Cottrell), convictions on two counts of arson for his role in the 2003 torching of several sport utility vehicles (SUV) at San Gabriel Valley car dealers, attacks authorities blamed on a radical environmentalist group. The court ruled that the judge in his trial should have allowed testimony regarding Cottrell's Asperger's Syndrome, a disability that could have affected the jury's decision.
Former Caltech graduate student William "Billy" Cottrell was re-sentenced to serve at least 18 more months in prison for participating in a vandalism spree in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003.