Arson Suspected in Blaze, Break-In at Law Offices

MONROVIA —  A law office was broken into early Thursday morning and set afire, causing heavy damage, according to authorities.

Law enforcement officials were seeking a man who witnesses said broke into the building and fled soon after the blaze erupted.

Jules Sandford, a partner with the law firm of Patten, Faith & Sandford on West Foothill Boulevard, estimated that fewer than a dozen active legal files were destroyed and said those can be reconstructed.

“We have some that are very gone,” said William E. Faith, another partner in the firm. “But we can go to court and make copies from the originals.”

The firm’s most important documents, mostly wills kept in fireproof cabinets, were not damaged, Faith said.

The suspicious blaze damaged nearly all the books in the law library, including a complete set of decisions rendered by the state Supreme Court dating to 1850, when California joined the union.

But more than 2,000 active files stored in 17 cabinets were not damaged. Some were covered with soot and need to be treated to get rid of the smoky smell.

There was no official damage estimate from fire officials, but the law firm estimated that at least $150,000 worth of office equipment was destroyed, and that the total loss could reach $250,000.

Neither the lawyers nor authorities could provide a motive for the apparent arson.

Witnesses who live near the eight-attorney firm at 635 W. Foothill Blvd. reported seeing a man in his mid-20s break a rear window shortly after midnight, climb in and torch the office, police said.

The man, who wore dark clothing, ran away carrying something, witnesses told police. But it was too dark to tell what the object was.

On Thursday afternoon, it was almost business as usual for Faith, although he could not call his clients to cancel appointments.

“My appointment book was so burned that I couldn’t tell who was coming today,” he said. “They just showed up.”

Faith said the firm is looking at available space nearby for temporary offices.

“We expect to open our practice again on Monday or Tuesday,” he said. “We will probably be operating out of the temporary office for at least three months.”