Samantha Scarano, Stripper in WeHo Arson Case, Daughter of Murdered Crime Crusader Erika Scarano? PHOTOS

By Dennis Romero Wed., Mar. 14 2012 at 6:09 AM

Samantha Scarano / Facebook

The story of Samantha Scarano, accused of setting her ex-roommate's West Hollywood apartment on fire, got even more interesting overnight.

After Weho Daily broke the news that Scarano was arrested at her place of work, the legendary Body Shop strip club, a tipster told us that she was the daughter of Erika Scarano, a Hollywood anti-crime crusader who was fatally stabbed in 2009. The woman's adoptive son Christopher was arrested in connection with the case.

At least one background website seems to confirm that Samantha and Erika Scarano are related (see more here).

Erika Scarano was described as a community activist who helped to reduce prostitution on the streets of Hollywood and who inspired the establishment in 1986 of the L.A. County courthouse in Hollywood.

That facility was just last year nearly downsized into oblivion thanks to budget cuts, but the building on Hollywood Boulevard still has an inscription dedicated to Erika Scarano.

Cops alleged that she was murdered March 29, 2009 during an argument with the 19-year-old son in the 1300 block of North Genesee Avenue.

Christopher Scarano was later found at a Hollywood youth shelter and arrested.

Samantha Scarano's Flickr page

Fast forward to March 4, 2012: Cops say someone threw an open container of charcoal lighter fluid and a burning object into an apartment in the 1400 Block of North Sweetzer Avenue in West Hollywood, which is 9 blocks west of Erika Scarano's former home.

View Scarano in a larger map

Authorities said a dispute between ex-roommates fueled the attack as much as the lighter fluid. Almost immediately the sheriff's department said an ex-roomy was the main suspect, but they never released a name until after Samantha's arrest.

According to Weho Daily, deputies received tips that she was working as a dancer at the Body Shop on the Sunset Strip. They arrested Samantha there about 4:30 p.m. Monday, as a DJ confirmed to CBS Los Angeles Tuesday night.

The club, which didn't have an alcohol license (and therefore could feature fully nude, 18-and-older performers) reopened in April, 2009 after a fire shut it down for six months.

Samantha Scarano's Flickr page has a photo with the caption:

Age 19! Me at the Body Shop with Tierra and Sydney. So drunk!

Other photos mention alcohol and cocaine use:

Self - shot of me at Raul's place. So Coked out every time!!!

One online profile states that Samantha Scarano, a 25-year-old from West Hollywood, attended Santa Monica College and National Bartenders School.

bigorb.com

Samantha Scarano.

At least one woman who appears to be an acquaintance posted LA Weekly's Monday story of Scarano's arrest on her Facebook page and came to her defense, commenting:

Poor girl...kindof a bad ass way to handle a problem, and we really dont know much about it. But I do know the victim was a pretty terrible and unscrupolous lady. Thats not saying she deserved it but everyone has a breaking point. IMHO She should have worn a mask!!!

The WeHo blaze did an estimated $300,000 in damage, burned two units and reportedly left as many as three others soaked in water after firefighters doused the blaze. Several people were left homeless, at least temporarily.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

arson, Body Shop, Hollywood, murder, scarano, strip club, West Hollywood

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PublicEnemy8

It is cruel to judge the lives ruined by the public system. I bet the majority of you all would have committed suicide had you gone through what those poor kids did. You sit here and gossip about a tragedy and make fun of it. It really is sad how society's answer to insanity is. On March 8, 2002, a cousin of the children was murdered as a result of system negligence / see this link: http://www.caichildlaw.org/Mis... NO ONE bothered to investigate that and this was one of the only responses to a single sentence news report on the matter. Why? Because LA COUNTY DCFS neglected and retaliated against this poor girl. This is a small glimpse into the lives of so many children affected by this sick and pathetic system. The murderer(s) of this girl is/are still at large. WHY? Because you don't give a shit and you focus on how to trample on victims of an unspoken society: the lost children of the system. The media doesn't give a shit about someone like Misty (a victim) and neither did DCFS. You had a field day with Christopher tho didn't you?If you forcefully drug and imprison someone as a child in an institution what do you expect them to be? As you sit here laughing and posting mean comments about these kids, just know that YOU ARE THE REASON FOR CHILDREN IN THE SYSTEM TO HAVE LOST IT !!!!!!! YOU PREY ON THEIR MISERY AND ASSUME THEY ARE ALL GOOD-FOR-NOTHING! Judge yourself before you judge others because you know nothing. Oh and if you want to BLAME someone, you can BLAME LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN SERVICES and YOURSELF!

And FYI ~ For those of you mentioning Christopher: He was awarded in WASHINGTON DC at the White House by congressmen, met the Prince of Kuwait, and had dinner in the White House for his writing accomplishments in winning an essay championship and named "A ROLE MODEL CITIZEN!" He is a genius capable of so much despite being mentally abused and imprisoned in the SYSTEM for years with no visitors even on birthdays and holidays. He is a good person who just snapped after years of abuse and neglect.

Leilak17

samantha was a friend of mine and sweet as pie she may have been a little odd but i really dont see her going to this extreme.

Kennedy

It would help if you didn't church it up, and just tell it like you see it, that she was off her rocker about 98% of the time. The only reason she survived this long is by being pretty and skinny and something men are willing to pay for. An insanity plea would lower it to 10 years not 25!!!!

Radiokiller

http://articles.latimes.com/20... woman was insane

Zcocker76

She was in porn few years ago to sate her jungle fever. Sweet girl. Smart too. But like so many girls growing up in shitty environment ends up stuck in same crappy lifestyle.

NewsDog

Stripper...Coke...Drunk...Psycho... I'm shocked I tell you.I've never heard of this kind of behavior from girls like this.

Wedontneednowater

every girl who works at the Body Shop should come with a disclaimer of insanity, more so than regular strippers.

Whitney

If you go through her Flickr, you notice in one, she captions the picture with her "mother, Marcella" and brother. So, no, she's not Erika's daughter.

Goldentom

She is Erika's Daughter i have known them for years . You don't know what you are talking about. That Family has been troubled for years. Her Mother Erika Scarano was a pure terror and an evil vindictive bitter old woman that believed that getting rid of her children into the public system was the solution. Everyone of that family is troubled and has been troubled all of there life. First the brother Christopher Slaying his mother now Samantha trying to burn people alive. Very happy to here that they are in jail to stay. But there are still two more of her sisters out there, But from what I gather they are the most stable out of all of them.

Chriscolburn

You are so right. The investigator for Chris's public defender interviewed 17 people and nobody had one nice thing to say about Erika. This is a case of a 50 year old woman in a 1200 sq foot house, who was crazy, given 4 or 5 babies and toddlers. WTF?? She literally threw the bipolar kids out on the street, without their medi-cal cards to stay on their meds. (The investigator told me the 3 words most commonly used to describe Erika were bitch, battle-ax and bully.) Our social system at it's worst.

Jaela2

Erika was 69 when she died, so both of her children were probably adopted. And she also sounds like kind of a strange person, constantly in altercations with neighbors. Marcella may have been her birth mother or just an older friend that maybe Samantha wished was her mother or considered a mother figure.