Topanga Resident Thinks Suspicious Hiker Was Arrested After Confrontation

The suspicious hiker who gave some bizarre answers to a concerned Topanga resident was questioned and arrested by police ... at least according to the guy who confronted him.

We tracked down the Topanga man who recorded his interaction with the hiker and he joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday ... telling us the guy stuck out like a sore thumb and raised a ton of red flags.

The resident says his community is pretty tight-knit, so they know everyone ... and this guy was clearly not a local.

The hiker was on a fire road and was carrying a backpack, which set off alarm bells for the resident ... because the confrontation went down amid the first few days of the Palisades Fire, which ravaged parts of Malibu and Topanga.

When the hiker, unprompted, said he didn't have any lighter fluid on him, the resident became even more suspicious ... and he says he sent the guy in the direction of some firefighters he hoped might pick up the guy.

Sounds like law enforcement eventually caught up with the hiker ... we know the county sheriff's department saw the video, and the resident says he's been told the hiker was arrested and questioned by cops.

There are arson concerns involved with these fires and the resident says there were too many red flags not to ask questions.

He also tells us there was no physical confrontation when he put the phone down ... and he's glad his kids were with him, otherwise this could have gotten ugly.