Mother of Los Angeles arson suspect arrested

The mother of a man accused in a wave of arson fires across Los Angeles was facing possible extradition to Germany on fraud charges, a case federal prosecutors said on Tuesday appeared to have angered her son.But police who arrested Harry Burkhart on suspicion of arson following a string of 53 fires over the New Years holiday weekend have not offered a motive for the crimes, and Burkhart has yet to be formally charged.His mother Dorothee Burkhart, 53, was taken into custody last week on an arrest warrant issued by German authorities stemming in part from accusations that she failed to pay for a 2004 breast augmentation surgery, court documents show.Ms. Burkhart is being held after an arrest warrant was issued in the United States, after Germany asked that she be taken into custody, explained U.S. Attorneys spokesman Thom Mrozek. What this indicates is that we are at the beginning of an extradition process. Germany has indicated that they want to bring her back to Germany to face the 19 counts of fraud filed against her.She appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, apparently unaware that her son had been arrested in connection with the blazes that broke out over the weekend.The arson fires, which were mostly started in parked cars and in some cases spread to carports and homes, left Los Angeles residents on edge and caused an estimated 3 million dollars (USD) in damages.There was no reference to Harry Burkharts arrest during the Tuesday proceedings, and Mrozek said the elder Burkhart did not seem to know that her son was in custody.