The man was detained near a drugstore at the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Sunset Boulevard early Monday morning, according to a witness to the incident. Several sources said the man is believed to be the same person seen in a surveillance video released by police Sunday, when authorities pointed to the individual as a "person of interest" in the case. Aaron Arellano, who works the graveyard shift at a gas station across from where authorities stopped a blue minivan with the man inside, said that at first there were only three squad cars near the minivan. Then "little by little" more police and fire vehicles arrived until there was a mass of about two dozen on Sunset Boulevard, said the 28-year-old Arrelano. RELATED: 
 
 FULL COVERAGE: Arson fires 
 
 Suspect arrested in string of fires 
 
 Police examine immigration link to case 
 
 -- Ari Bloomekatz in Hollywood 
 
 Photo: Police investigate a minivan officials say may be linked to a series of arson fires. The Los Angeles Police Department is in communication with federal immigration officials concerning the dispute, the law enforcement sources said.
– The "person of interest" detained earlier today in Los Angeles' string of arsons has been arrested, reports the Los Angeles Times. "I feel very good that we've got the right guy," says LA Police Chief Charlie Beck. He "had the right stuff in his van, and we are very confident we found our man.'' Indeed, there have been no new fires since the suspect was detained. Police say that the suspect is a German who was embroiled in a fight with federal immigration authorities. Meanwhile, sources tell the Times that they spotted the suspect in the back of a police cruiser, and a number of them flipped him the bird—a gesture he returned with an eerie smile. "It was creepy," says a music producer who witnessed the exchange. Click for more on the case.