Arson suspect detained as beloved Whittier pizza joint plans reopening

Nearly two years after a fire razed the half-century-old Pizzamania restaurant in Whittier, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man identified only as Suspect Arreola on an arson warrant. The warrant, issued by the L.A. County district attorney’s office, accuses him of setting the September 2024 blaze that engulfed five businesses on Telegraph Road and a separate October 2025 fire in Riverside, and detectives suspect further incidents.

Arreola was booked at the Pico Rivera station and is being held on $75,000 bail. The arrest was welcomed by co-owners Jim Barritt and Warren Haines, who lost roughly 50 employees when the fire struck. They announced that Pizzamania will return by sharing space with Maggie’s Pub, moving into the front of the pub’s building while the pub relocates to the banquet hall, and plan a larger venue with an outdoor patio slated for a spring opening. The owners expressed relief that justice is progressing and optimism about serving the community again soon.