Officers from the Ferndale and Bellingham Police Departments in Washington are called about a car on fire parked at a Mexican restaurant named Chihuahua. Little do they know, the arsonist who set the fire is secretly watching them from inside the restaurant, which he also destroyed. >> This is like the second vehicle in 2 days lit on fire. Okay, let me just do a quick check through the windshield. Hey! It's the police. Mark, get out here. Police? Yeah. What did he say? Hey, we got one in the Hey, it's Mark Larson. OH, HE'S RUNNING. HEY, HE'S RUNNING. IT'S MARK Larson on 3rd. He's going down. HEY, HE'S DOWN. WHILE OFFICERS DON'T HAVE TIME TO ASSESS the full crime scene yet, they'll soon realize Mark caused a lot more damage than they initially thought. >> Fringe, white male, last of Larson, first of Mark. Surelisse, bloody. And it's like now copy this. Mark, Surelisse, and bloody going towards Fringe. Hey, where'd that guy go? Uh, grassy yard. He's there. He's at a tree. Somewhere up in between here and the other school. Incoming units, assist with a foot pursuit. Assist with a foot pursuit. 307 you hold down that corner down 623, you hold down that corner down there. Well, that's weird. It's a burglary. We got somebody who fled from the building. The window's all broken out there. I don't know what the He was in inside the building here. This is all the restaurant. And he's chasing him on foot somewhere down near Central Elementary. We got a bunch of incoming units. And I'm staying here. Yeah, we almost hit him with the fire engine. He crossed 3rd shirtless dude. Yeah, shirtless buddy? Yeah, yeah. He ran across Main Street right in front of us when we were coming down the road there like I'm sure they'll catch him. We got four deputies and we got an air unit. So, why Who knows, right? He was going eastbound on Maple towards the school. Last known direction of travel was at Central Elementary at Blossom Premiere. Central Elementary? 127371296 I'm holding perimeter at 2nd and Alder. Hey, how's it going, boss? Hey, a guy just ran from us. He's all bloodied up and shirtless. Okay. It's Yeah, how how many how many doors are open? Just that one? Yeah, all they're locked. Well, I had one by the dumpster open, but I'm going to shut it. Yeah, shut and lock. And I've been standing right here, so no one came in. Okay, perfect. Shut and lock them. Hey. Hey, how's it going? >> Good. So, I get down to what's that? Maple and 3rd, and some dude was sitting on his porch and was like, "Homeboy ran that way through the field right here." I lost him halfway through the field. So, unless he ducked out in this apartment complex So, you had him Yeah, he was last pointed eastbound through that backyard. And was this like he was just mental or Yeah, he's probably a user. I mean, he's my age, 26. All right, let's go to where you last saw him and I'll get the dog on his odor, and then we'll pop out there and look. >> Any speculation on what did this? Siphoning? Cuz now it's a riot 20 can you 30 copy? Like he was trying to start a fire at the gas hole there. It like seems like they were trying to cover their tracks or Burn the building >> have a little fun. He was inside the building. There's blood all over the inside of the building. And they're chasing him down by Central Elementary right now. I haven't cleared the building yet, so let's not go in. All right. What the hell? This is no longer on fire. Okay. Well, that was that Thank you for that. Yep. He was bleeding pretty good when he was up in Chihuahua's, so Broke the glass or something? Yeah, freaking smashed it out. So, I saw him here and then nothing. Do you know Mark? Mark Larson? He was my grade. Dude, it's more than alcohol now. That kid was running. So, I mean, if he didn't take off, he ducked out somewhere in this Okay. place. I guess we'll find out. You want me to do so, calms and cover your cover or I got you. Calm on. Mark! Mark Snell Yuma Police Department K9. You're under arrest for arson and burglary. What's his last name? Larson. Mark Larson, you're under arrest. This is about to be searched by police K9. If he finds you, he will bite you. Mark, you're under arrest. Come out now. We'll take you into custody peacefully. So, this guy in the court said he cut Yeah, and we can go verify that, but he pointed straight that way. Are you Levi? Yeah, I told you that. That's fine, Levi. You're not in trouble. Did you Did you say he went this direction through through this field over here? Yeah. Okay. Thank you, buddy. Mark Larson, behind you is police K9. Your area is about to be searched by a police dog. If he finds you, he's going to bite you. COME OUT NOW. YOU WANT TO HAVE THAT? I DIDN'T TELL, MAN. THEY'VE also got employees here. Yep. So, where did he cross the wire? In the alley on the east side of French Road. Hey, man. Hey, show me your hands, bro. Making contact. Hey, show me your hands, man. Mark, hey. Yes? No? Yes, that's Mark. Mark, can you lay down on your belly for me? You do anything I tell you to do. Mark, are you going to be able to do what I tell you to do? What? Cover me with pepper spray, bro. You got to listen to us, man. Can you roll over on your tummy for me? If he's not going to do it, we All right, cool. Yep. You're under arrest, buddy. For what? Come on, your stomach, please. On your stomach. For what? Don't tense up, bud. Arson. For what? Arson. And what? Turn around. You guys ready to burn this place down? No. Then you better let go of my We're not playing that game right now. You got to burn down >> going to fight with you. with the [ __ ] wrist. >> We're not going to fight. I don't want to use force on you, man. I really don't. >> Then you want to [ __ ] burn down with the building? No, but I'm going to take you into custody. >> burn me down with the cuz you have nothing to go against me. Roll over for me. >> What do you have against me? We're done playing games Roll over. Oh, yeah? Cuz you're not cooperating. CALL THE FIRE YOU GOT TO ADDRESS A [ __ ] RANDOM [ __ ] adult. A random adult. Come on, Smokey. Come on. Let go of it. For what? Let go. The go-kart. For what? I don't have a go-kart. >> let go. Let go. Just let go. Stop fighting. Smokey. Come on, Smoke. Smokey. Come on, Smoke. You ain't got nothing on him. Why are you doing that? Why are you doing that? Doing what? Fighting. Fighting what? Damn, bro. What? You mean against your stupid ass Lincoln guard? Hey, wait a second. Take your head out, bro. How about you take your guard out? I'll take it too and one of you and every god damn Come on. Come on, [ __ ] out. Because you ain't got nothing. I don't even have a guard after me. You don't even have a guard after me? How about that? That's not the fight you want to have. That's not the fight you want to have. Yeah. What do you have after me? How about that? How about that? How about that? Yeah. How about that? Stop. You have nothing against me. Dude. How about you have nothing against me? >> keep doing that, you're going to catch another another charge. Do you understand that? >> Go for it, you [ __ ] prick. Go for it. Go for it, you [ __ ] Go about it. I'll [ __ ] kill you. Go for it. Yeah, that's all that's on me. You [ __ ] dumb ass [ __ ] Why is on me to provoke me? Let me know. Yeah, dumb ass cop. That's my [ __ ] point. Exactly. It's arson and burglary. Arson. Oh, really? Yeah. You're about to be [ __ ] arrested. We just want know what you're under arrest for. I I'm just going to ask you one medical question that you're not going to get in trouble for. How much meth did you take today? None, dude. Okay, why are your eyes so big? I don't do [ __ ] meth. Look at me. I don't do meth. I don't see him needing to go to the hospital for it. Okay, perfect. I guess I'll pull for Yeah, someone's going to need a pull. How about that? Let's get you IN THE SEAT. THAT'S AWESOME. I LIKE THAT. OH, YEAH. OH, YEAH. I like that. That's nice. That's cool. Oh, wow. Hey, Carl. My name's not Carl. My name's not Carl. Now that Mark is in custody, the owner of the restaurant arrives at the crime scene. An officer show him the true extent of the $60,000 worth of damages. So essentially, our department got a report of a car on fire. Detective Gamage and then myself arrived, confirmed that the the back left gas tank was on fire. I went around front of the car to make sure nobody was inside. Nobody's inside, but I step on glass. I look in that window right there, broken out. So I turn around to see who's inside, just trashed the place. Recognize him, starts running. Anyway, we got him in custody, but building's been cleared, it's wrecked. There's blood everywhere. Inside the Yeah, we we can go look. So we've already we've already taken pictures. You don't know who's vehicle this is? That's my dad's. Okay. Uh your air conditioning unit is destroyed. He ripped this sucker out. Yeah, be careful where you touch cuz that's everything but That's the start of it. So there's all over the counters. Um he destroyed your tacos and tequila sign. Mhm. Are you family, too? Okay. So we got the guy. You did? And he's in jail, yeah. Wow. But he did some damage, man. Only things he took, which we have to collect, I just left them on the sidewalk, was a leaf blower and a can of spray paint. Tough, nice. So. He was on He was just on drugs, and >> Yeah, he's I think he just was completely out of it. >> Matter of fact, I saw him running with nothing in his hands. So I And then we searched him, and there was nothing on him. So he dropped that leaf blower and the can of spray paint on the sidewalk out here that we'll pick up. If you guys find other stuff that is missing or damaged, then contact us. We'll give you a Do you have a card? We have a case number on it. And then if you find something, or you see something later that's that's missing, then contact us and let us know. The suspect, Mark Larson III, was booked into jail and held on a $50,000 bail. The damage to the car he allegedly set on fire was estimated at $40,000, and the damages inside the restaurant were estimated to be $20,000 for a total of $60,000 in damages. Mark was charged with felony second-degree burglary, felony second-degree arson, and felony first-degree mischief. While he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law, depending on plea deals and concurrent versus consecutive sentencing, Mark could spend up to 25 years in prison if convicted. You ever see somebody do something so destructive you stop asking what he did and start asking what's going on inside his head. Because this didn't feel like a man trying to get away with a crime. This felt like a man trying to outrun his own reality. He's watching officers from the window, not hiding, observing. And when officers move in, he runs, not with a plan, just movement, pure impulse. And that's a mind in survival mode, not strategy mode. What people struggle to understand is police get called for criminal behavior, but sometimes they're walking into a medical, psychological, and chemical crisis all stacked together. And they're still the only one standing there when it turns dangerous. When officers finally close distance, his body keeps fighting even after the situation is over. That's not toughness, that's a brain still stuck in fight or flight, but reality already caught up. Law enforcement often becomes the last safety net when a person's life unravels publicly, and not because officers are the perfect solution. It's usually because they're the only ones available at the moment behavior such putting other people in danger. Always remember, some people don't get arrested because they plan to be criminals. They actually get arrested because no one reached them before the crisis reached everyone else.