A man charged with setting a roaring blaze at the partially built Da Vinci apartment complex in Los Angeles that caused millions of dollars in damage, melted freeway signs and shrouded downtown in smoke was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Dawud Abdulwali — who prosecutors allege set the fire in anger over fatal police shootings of African Americans in Ferguson, Mo., and other cities — pleaded no contest to one count of arson and admitted to using an accelerant to start the blaze, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Abdulwali, who had also been charged with aggravated arson, could have faced life in prison, prosecutors said.

No one was injured in the fire, which destroyed the half-built structure and shattered windows at the nearby headquarters of the city’s Department of Water and Power. The blaze caused between $20 million and $30 million in damage to the Da Vinci complex and an additional $50 million in damage to the DWP building, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The apartment complex’s owner also suffered approximately $100 million in lost potential revenue as a result of the fire, according to a probation report filed with the court.


Deputy Public Defender Lowynn Young said Abdulwali was offered the plea deal Thursday and – although he was hoping for less time – decided he was comfortable with the terms when he considered the risk of facing the maximum punishment after a trial.

“Anyone faced with a life sentence – when you’re presented with an opportunity not to risk it – I think that’s something worth considering,” Young said.

In earlier court hearings, several people who knew Abdulwali, 58, testified that the blaze was a response to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. Brown’s death touched off protests across the country and jump-started a national conversation about police use of force against minorities.

“Cops kill my people…. We should go do this, we should go burn some [expletive] down.... We should go break some windows,” Abdulwali once said, according to testimony delivered last year by his former roommate, Edwyn Gomez.


1 / 42 More than 200 firefighters work to control a massive fire as it destroys a seven-story building under construction in downtown Los Angeles. (MARIANA ROSALES / EPA) 2 / 42 A staircase to nowhere sits by itself after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early Dec. 8 leveled an apartment tower under construction. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 42 Firefighters work Dec. 8 to control a massive fire as it destroys a seven-story building under construction in downtown Los Angeles. (Michael Meadows / European Pressphoto Agency) 4 / 42 Arson investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on scene to conduct an investigation into December’s Da Vinci apartment complex fire. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 42 An elevated view of all that is left of the 1.3 million-square-foot Da Vinci apartment complex that was destroyed by fire in December. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 42 Traffic flows along the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles next to the remains of what was to be the Da Vinci apartment complex that was destroyed by fire in December. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 42 A massive fire engulfs a apartment building construction site near downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Nancy Yuille / Associated Press) 8 / 42 A crane begins to tear down the seven-story Da Vinci apartment complex. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 42 The smoldering ruins of the Da Vinici building. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 42 Work crews walk past a still-smoldering construction site after it was destroyed in an early morning fire. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 42 Investigators outside a building that was partially destroyed in an early morning fire next to the 110 Freeway. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 42 Arson investigators survey the scene after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 42 Caltrans workers remove signs over the 110 Freeway after a massive fire at a nearby apartment complex project on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 14 / 42 A firefighter hoses down hot spots after battling a massive fire at the Da Vinci apartment complex under construction on Temple Street and Fremont Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 15 / 42 Arson investigators and an ATF agent, center, walk along the 110 Freeway near the site of the blaze on Dec. 8. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 42 Firefighters spray water on hot spots after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles in December. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 42 The extreme heat from the fire melted a nearby parking sign. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 42 Firefighters look out from the shattered windows of a nearby office building damaged by the morning blaze. The huge L.A. fire that engulfed an apartment tower over an area the size of a city block is being treated as a criminal fire. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 42 A firefighter looks at the twisted metal that used to be scaffolding surrounding an apartment complex under construction brought down by a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early Dec. 8. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 42 A burnt palm tree is all that if left standing after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles in December. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 42 As freeway traffic passes by, smoke rises from the scene of a massive fire at the Da Vinci apartment complex project in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 22 / 42 Blown-out windows are seen on the Lewis Brisbois Building on Dec. 8 as smoke lingers after a massive fire at a nearby apartment complex project in downtown Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 23 / 42 Firefighters stand on the 110 Freeway on Dec. 8 after battling a massive fire at the nearby Da Vinci apartment complex under construction on Temple Street and Fremont Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 24 / 42 Firefighters tackle the remnants of a massive fire at the Da Vinci apartment complex project downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 25 / 42 A stairwell is all that remains standing Dec. 8 as firefighters work on subduing a blaze at an apartment complex project in downtown Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 26 / 42 Firefighters battle a blaze at a construction site on 7th street near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 27 / 42 Firefighters tackle a fire at a construction site on 7th street near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) 28 / 42 CalTrans crews begin the clean up process on the 110 Freeway after a massive fire that engulfed an apartment tower under construction left freeways signs damaged and debris scattered across lanes. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 42 Parts of scaffolding are all that is left standing after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 42 Parts of scaffolding are all that is left standing after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles engulfed an apartment tower under construction. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 42 Firefighters hose down hot spots after battling a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 42 Smoke lingers on Dec. 8 after a massive fire in downtown Los Angeles engulfed an apartment tower under construction. (Patrick T. Fallon / For the Times) 33 / 42 Firefighters spray water on the remnants of a structure fire in downtown Los Angeles. The building was completely destroyed and the intense heat heavily damaged two nearby buildings while also forcing the closure of Interstate 110. (PAUL BUCK / EPA) 34 / 42 Los Angeles County firefighters battle a fire at an apartment building under construction next to the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 35 / 42 Los Angeles County firefighters battle a fire at an apartment building under construction next to the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 36 / 42 Los Angeles County firefighters battle a fire at an apartment building under construction next to the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 37 / 42 Los Angeles County firefighters battle a fire at an apartment building under construction next to the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 38 / 42 Fire engulfs a building under construction in the 900 block of North Fremont Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. (KTLA) 39 / 42 Firefighters work to put out flames at an apartment complex under construction in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 42 A fire lights the night sky near the 110 and 101 freeways in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 41 / 42 Firefighters deal with heavy smokes as they battle a blaze in the 900 block of Fremont Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 8. (Patrick J. Fallon / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 42 Firefighters battling a blaze at a seven-story apartment building that was under construction in downtown Los Angeles. (EPA)

Abdulwali, who was living in South L.A. at the time of the fire, also bragged about burning the complex down at a Hollywood hotel party a few days later, according to witness testimony.

Prosecutors alleged that Abdulwali worked as “a bandit taxicab driver,” and surveillance video from the area showed a man hopping out of a cab near the complex on the night of the blaze.

The man then climbed a fence and disappeared into the structure. A few minutes later, there was a flash of light inside the apartment complex.


An arson investigator testified he found a Facebook profile associated with Abdulwali hosting pictures of the same cab shown in the video. The Facebook profile also contained posts rife with derogatory remarks about police officers and comments about high-profile police killings of African Americans.

“‘How many buildings have to be burned to the ground’ for the killings to stop?” read one post, LAFD arson investigator Robert McLoud testified.

In a report to the court, a probation officer said the crime suggested “planning, sophistication or professionalism,” caused millions of dollars in damage and had a lasting impact on the community.

Abdulwali had a lengthy criminal history spanning more than three decades, according to the report.


He spent much of the 1980s on probation following convictions for receiving stolen property and grand theft auto, as well as a drug offense. He tried to elude authorities by giving fake names to officers and changing a vehicle’s identification number, according to the report.

In 1993, he was sentenced to 100 days in jail and three years of probation for possessing a firearm as a felon and for importing wild animals without a permit. A year later, he was convicted of grand theft and sentenced to 16 months behind bars. Not long after his release, he was arrested again and convicted of felony vehicle theft. Again, he was sentenced to 16 months in state prison.

In September 2012, Los Angeles prosecutors filed charges of sexual assault against Abdulwali, accusing him of raping and imprisoning a woman, records show. But the charges were dropped about a month later.

At the time of the 2014 fire, he was on probation for a misdemeanor battery conviction, the report said. Abdulwali, who is originally from Boston and had previously worked as a club promoter, photographer and driver, told authorities he was unemployed at the time of his arrest in connection with the fire. He will now have to register as an arson offender.


The fire was powerful enough to ignite fronds on nearby palm trees and melt computers and cubicles in neighboring office buildings. The complex is near the Harbor Freeway, and the heat from the flames was so intense that it damaged fiber-optic cables near the roadway and melted one of the signs. Homeless people sleeping blocks away said they were roused from their sleep by the inferno.

One woman, who was sleeping under a 110 Freeway underpass that night, said she was awoken by the feeling of her bare feet baking. Residents in nearby apartment buildings and lofts were forced to evacuate, and the flames also forced the closure of some sections of adjacent freeways, paralyzing rush-hour traffic the following morning.

The fire led the city to file a $20-million lawsuit against the complex’s developer, Geoffrey H. Palmer, and his company, G.H. Palmer Associates, claiming their negligence allowed the blaze to spread to other buildings and damage city property. According to the suit, the complex did not have firewalls or an adequate water supply to battle a potential blaze. The suit also contends Palmer Associates did not hire adequate security to prevent break-ins like the one that allowed Abdulwali to set the fire.

The city’s claims board approved a settlement in that lawsuit on Monday, according to Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office. Wilcox declined to provide specifics of the settlement, which he said will be forwarded to the City Council for approval.


Calls and emails seeking comment from G.H. Palmer Associates were not immediately returned.

james.queally@latimes.com

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

For more breaking crime news in California, follow @JamesQueallyLAT and @marisagerber on Twitter.


UPDATES:

5:45 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Abdulwali’s public defender and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

12:45 p.m.: This story was updated with additional background about the case and details from a probation report.

This story was first published at 10:50 a.m.