The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A serial arson suspect was arrested Wednesday, and police believe he is the man responsible for setting more than a dozen fires in San Jose.
The suspect, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was taken into custody about 8:10 p.m. by members of the San Jose police covert response unit, which is made up of undercover officers, said Officer Albert Morales, a department spokesman.
Morales declined to discuss what led to the suspect’s arrest, citing an ongoing investigation. He said the suspect would be booked at Santa Clara County Jail.
Predawn fires
The arrest follows a spate of predawn arson fires that struck fear in a 2-square-mile area of downtown San Jose where homes, a commercial building and, on two separate occasions, the same Baptist church were set ablaze.
Surveillance cameras captured images of a skinny man using an ignitable material starting one fire on the porch of a home. In other videos, the man is seen walking back and forth on the street before a fire erupted nearby.
The series of fires began Jan. 7 and continued through the weekend. The blazes usually erupted between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., prompting residents to take up early-morning patrols, set up early alarms and even use garden hoses and trim dry brush in hopes of deterring more blazes.
The most recent blazes were reported early Sunday, when two fires were discovered, one next to a fence and another in a portable classroom behind Greater St. John Baptist Church at 1230 E. San Antonio St.
The same portable had been hit four days earlier.
Early Saturday, neighbors helped an elderly couple escape a burning home on the 700 block of E. St. John St.
At 4:20 a.m., a passerby saw fire coming from the home and tried to awaken the residents by pounding on the door. After not getting an answer, the man alerted neighbors and ran to a nearby fire station to report the blaze.
Meanwhile, the neighbors — a father and son — managed to help the couple escape.
$10,000 reward
The San Jose Fire Fighters Local 230 union offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist.
Officials said witnesses have described him as “real skinny,” wearing baggy clothes and sometimes distinctive, thick-framed glasses.
Police released a sketch of the man during the investigation.
No injuries were reported in the fires, but at a weekend news conference, Battalion Chief Robert Sapien, president of the firefighters union, said, “Should these fires continue, I fear this good fortune may run out.”
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