Surveillance captured the moment arsonists ignited a massive fire at a tire shop in South Los Angeles.

On Aug. 2 at around 5 a.m., the suspects were seen arriving at Vermont Tires, a family-owned shop located in the 6900 block of Vermont Avenue.

Security video captured two men on bicycles throwing an object through a gate and onto a pile of tires. Flames suddenly exploded and continued growing before the suspects quickly fled the area.

“I’m imagining it might have been a gasoline-soaked rag,” said Misael Guevara, an employee at Vermont Tires, of the mystery object thrown by the arsonists. “I’m not too sure. I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.”

More than 100 tires, several parked cars and costly equipment were torched as the massive flames continued moving toward the walls of the tire shop. The flames eventually spread to an auto shop next door, Brothers Auto Repair. 

Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames before the main structure was destroyed.

Both businesses were devastated by the fire, which left a trail of costly damages behind.

“Including machines and tires, overall we’re looking at about $10,000 to $13,000 [in damage],” Guevara said. “That’s not including the mechanic side because they lost two vehicles and one of them alone is $20,000 because it was complete already.”

“It’s very devastating,” said Mirca Garcia, owner of Vermont Tires. “We’ve been a part of the community for 25-plus years. My mom and dad built the tire shop. They were affected tremendously and it’s a big financial loss.”

Both family-owned establishments were forced to shut down as they struggled to pick up the pieces while losing income from potential business.

“Today, we’re able to open but it’s not as it usually is because it’s a safety hazard for my dad and for the workers,” Garcia said.

The fire is now being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and arson investigators. 

The face of at least one of the arsonists was captured on security video. The shop owners are hoping the suspects will be caught soon before they destroy another home or business.

“We lost a lot of money and unfortunately so did our neighbors,” Guevara said. “We’re just trying to get back on our feet and run our business again.”

Two GoFundMe pages created to help the tire and auto body shops recover from the fire can be found here and here.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the LAPD at 1-877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

A Texas man was sentenced to 40 years in prison as part of a plea agreement after pleading guilty to murdering his newlywed wife.

Jared James Dicus’s sentencing was handed down on Wednesday by Judge Gary Chaney after chopping 21-year-old Anggy Diaz’s head off and leaving it in the shower in 2023.

Dicus, now 23, pleaded guilty to murder and his earliest parole date will not be until 2043. The Waller County District Attorney’s Office consulted with Diaz’s family before finalizing the plea deal and sentencing.

During the pre-trial phase of the case, potential mental health issues were raised regarding Dicus’s competency to stand trial, but he was considered competent to stand trial after a court-ordered examination according to a statement released by the Waller County District Attorney’s Office.

TEXAS MAN CONFESSES TO DECAPITATING NEWLYWED ‘UNDOCUMENTED’ WIFE: REPORT

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Jared Dicus, 23, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering his newlywed wife. (Waller County Sheriff’s Office)

As part of the plea deal, Dicus waived his right to appeal the verdict, the sentence and any potential defense, including an insanity defense. He also waived any post-conviction writ of habeas corpus.

“Waller County does not tolerate domestic violence. Heinous crimes like this one will not go unanswered,” Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore said in the statement. “We will seek justice for the victims of domestic violence and send a message to the perpetrators that here, we fight for our victims.”

Diaz, who had worked as counter help at a local business, was originally from Nicaragua and was initially in the care of an aunt when she first arrived in the U.S., her family said last year.

TEXAS MAN ALLEGEDLY DECAPITATES NEWLYWED WIFE, SHERIFF SAYS ‘PARTS AND PIECES WERE RECOVERED’

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Jared James Dicus and Anggy Diaz were married at the Waller County Courthouse in October 2022.  (Waller County Judge Trey Duhon)

Dicus was charged in January 2023 with murdering Diaz after marrying her three months earlier. Waller County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Diaz on the couple’s bedroom floor in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds in her back, and what appeared to be her head was located in the shower.

Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry said evidence showed that a kitchen knife was the murder weapon and that “all parts and pieces were recovered.”

After Diaz’s death last year, Dicus confessed to investigators that he murdered his wife.

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Former Major League Baseball player and executive Billy Bean has died at age 60, the league announced on Tuesday.

Bean, a Santa Ana, California native who attended Loyola Marymount University, succumbed to leukemia, the league said on X, formerly Twitter.

An outfielder, Bean played professionally for 10 years, six of which were spent in the majors. He ended with a lifetime batting average of .226, with 108 hits and 5 home runs for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

Despite his limited professional success — he only appeared in 51 games for the Dodgers in the 1989 season — Bean still made an impact on the game.

In 1999, the New York Times noted he was the “first major league baseball player to publicly discuss his homosexuality to this extent” when he came out as a member of the LGBTQ community. In recent years, Bean — not to be confused with Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics executive featured in the book and movie “Moneyball” — served as MLB’s senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion and special assistant to the commissioner.

“Over the last 10 years, Billy worked passionately and tirelessly with MLB and all 30 Clubs, focusing on player education, LGBTQ inclusion, and social justice initiatives to advance equality in the game for all,” the MLB said.

It is for those efforts that Bean will be remembered, Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the MLB’s announcement.

“Manfred called Billy ‘one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known’ and someone who ‘made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field,” Manfred said.