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Meet the Beverly Hills Lawyer Who Nabbed the Hollywood Arson Suspect While Moonlighting as a Reserve Deputy
Shervin Lalezary, the unassuming Beverly Hills lawyer (it turns out that's not an oxymoron), is getting his moment in the spotlight after nabbing the Hollywood arson suspect.
The 30-year-old real estate attorney was only on his third patrol as a reserve deputy when he spotted a minivan and a driver matching the description of the arson suspect: white with a receding hairline and a ponytail. Lalezary was riding solo, pulled him over and arrested him. LAPD officers were behind backing him up and they reported finding fire-setting materials in the van of suspect Harry Burkhart, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Lalezary was born in Tehran, but his family moved to the US when he was young. He went to UCLA and law school at USC. He became a reserve deputy in 2007 and passed the bar in 2008. He was first permitted to ride solo and conduct traffic stops this December, according to The Daily News. He works for $1 a year and works for 20 hours a month.
Sheriff Lee Baca lauded Lalezary for his achievements, but it turns out this reserve deputy is pretty reserved. After he flashed his smile at a press conference and recounted his tale, Lalezary has been keeping a pretty low profile. He wouldn't even tell a Beverly Hills reporter whether he's local.
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"He believes in the community service aspects of the reserve deputy," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. "This is part of the job for him and he doesn't want to talk about himself because he believes he's part and parcel of a larger effort."
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