Man Arrested After Allegedly Starting Fire at Century City Mall

CENTURY CITY, CA -- A Missouri man who is accused of starting a fire inside an Amazon book store at the Century City Mall and then pointing a gun at store personnel before fleeing has been arrested by Los Angeles police in Venice, Los Angeles police said Sunday.

Nicholas K. Oates, 25, was arrested about 8 p.m. Saturday by officers from the LAPD'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. 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 currently unknown, police say.

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.

After smoke was seen coming from the store at about 2 p.m., 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.

Police reported about 6 p.m. that the item was not explosive and the evacuation was over.

City News Service contributed to this report.