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Nabbed: Suspect in Century City Evacuation

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A 25-year-old Missouri man who is accused of
throwing the Century City Mall into chaos on Friday by starting a fire inside
an Amazon store and then pointing a gun at store personnel causing the mall to
be evacuated was arrested by Los Angeles police in Venice, the department said
today.
Nicholas K. Oates was arrested about 8 p.m. Saturday by officers from
the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division assigned to the Venice
Beach Task Force who recognized the suspect sitting at a nearby beach at the
Venice boardwalk and took him into custody, the LAPD reported.
Oates allegedly pulled several books from shelves and then lit them on
fire, the LAPD said. A store employee tried to stop Oates, but he allegedly
pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the employee, causing the store to be
evacuated. After that the shopping center was also evacuated. A motive for
Oates’ alleged actions is unknown at this point.
Oates is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail, according to Los Angeles
County jail records. There’s no word yet on when he will be arraigned.
The Westfield Century City mall was evacuated for more than five hours
on Friday as police, firefighters and a bomb squad responded to a report of
a man with a gun and a fire inside the Amazon bookstore.
Smoke was seen coming from the Amazon store at about 2 p.m.
Police reported about 6 p.m. that the item was not explosive and the
evacuation was over. Police had initially said the mall was being reopened, but
later reported that stores would remain closed until Saturday morning.