Ex-college football player stops suspected arsonist in Los Angeles

A former Kentucky wide receiver found himself in position to thwart a serious crime when he played a key role in helping police arrest a suspected arsonist.

Scott Mitchell used some of his SEC speed to run down Andrew Wistic O’Calliham, a 43-year-old homeless man, on a Los Angeles hillside and helped police take him into custody after he allegedly set fire to some nearby forest land.

O’Calliham was arrested on suspicion of arson and is being held on $75,000 bail.

Mitchell and his girlfriend, the fashion designer Davanh DiMarco, were hiking nearby when they noticed a burning tree and a suspicious man leaving the area.

The former Wildcat wideout then ran about 150 yards to catch up to the man.

“Even without digging, I was able to chase that guy down,” Mitchell told NBC News. “I didn’t know I still had it, I’m not going to lie.”

O’Calliham told Mitchell that he was a fire marshal and that he started the fire as part of a controlled burn.

Mitchell then asked the man to produce a badge as proof, and noted that because O’Calliham was alone and appeared disheveled, believed that he was the person who set the tree on fire.

"So I asked him, 'Where's your badge, fire marshal?'" Mitchell said. "And there was nobody else over there, so you can reasonably deduce that he set the fire."

Other hikers helped Mitchell and DiMarco in keeping the man contained while calling for the emergency services.

The fire was extinguished by aerial personnel among 53 other firefighters of the Los Angeles Fire Department in the Hollywood Hills area.

Mitchell played college football from 2001-05 for three schools, beginning at New Mexico before transferring to Mount San Antonio College.

He ultimately landed at Kentucky, where he caught 53 passes for 671 yards and scored three touchdowns over 20 appearances in two seasons.

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